Image: Capcom
The movie is still on schedule for its 2026 release date.
The Street Fighter movie adaptation reboot is back on track with filmmaker Kitao Sakurai stepping in as director, as first reported by Deadline.
Sakurai is known for co-writing and directing Netflix’s 2021 comedy Bad Trip, starring Erice Andre. He also worked on The Eric Andre Show, directed episodes of the FX series Dave, and helmed the crime drama film Aardvark. Additionally, he served as an executive producer for Netflix and A24’s second season of Beef. He also directed the pilot and several episodes of Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series Butterfly, starring Daniel Dae Kim.
This isn’t Sakurai’s first time working on a video game adaptation—he previously directed multiple episodes of Peacock’s Twisted Metal series.
Street Fighter movie changes directors
The Street Fighter reboot was announced in April 2023, where Legendary originally brought in filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, known for Talk to Me. However, the sibling filmmakers decided to exit the project in June 2024 to focus on one of their horror films, Bring Her Back. Despite Sakurai brought in more than six months later, the movie is still on schedule for its planned release date in 2026. The new director will be working with both Legendary and video game publishing giant Capcom on the film.
Street Fighter debuted in 1987 on arcade machines. However, it was Street Fighter II that popularised the series and revolutionised the fighting game genre. The game introduced mechanics like combos, allowing players to string attacks for more damage. It became a global arcade phenomenon, selling over 6.3 million copies on the SNES alone, and laying the foundation for the modern fighting game genre.
Live-action adaptations of Street Fighter have been attempted before. The 1994 Street Fighter movie starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile and Raul Julia as M. Bison and was received poorly, receiving an 11% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. In 2009, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li attempted a more character-focused approach with Kristin Kreuk in the lead role, but it was also a flop, scoring just 3% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The new Street Fighter movie is scheduled to release on 20 March, 2026.
