Street Fighter, one of the oldest video games, will have a new movie produced by Legendary. The popular game Street Fighter started in the arcade in 1989 and then moved to consoles such as NES, to later launch Street Fighter II and other sequels with the Hadoken, Sonic Boom and Shoriuken.
After several attempts, some very disastrous, Capcom wants this franchise to return to the big screen. To do so, they gave the rights to Legendary to develop a new movie. Considering Street Fighter‘s success at the time, we do not rule out that they will also make animated versions.
Image via Capcom
Legendary Entertainment Will Develop New Street Fighter Film
Legendary Studios will be in charge of bringing a new Street Fighter movie to life. We will likely see the main characters such as Guile, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka and M. Bison. As for the plot, there are different possibilities, either an origin story or a specific plot based on some of the animated versions.
This is not the first Street Fighter movie; it would be the fourth in the franchise. The first was released in 1994, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, who sought to defeat General Bison for revenge. However, the reviews were harsh for having a simple plot and not much combat action.
Image via Universal Pictures
The second movie was Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. It showed this character’s origin and her hatred towards Bison. It had a better performance than the previous one showing more fighting action. Finally, there is Street Fighter: The Killer Fist, which showed Ken and Ryu’s training and the origin of another villain of the saga, Akuma. The third movie showed the reason for the conflict between Ryu and this dark fighter.
The new Street Fighter could be based on the first animated series, focusing on the conflict between Guile and Byson. It could also be based on Street Fighter II, showing an alternative origin of Ken and Ryu’s powers and their relationship with Bison.
Another option would be to organize a fighting tournament where all the characters or at least the main characters would participate. Something in the style of Tekken: The Legacy, an animated series currently on Netflix.
Capcom and Legendary Entertainment
The agreement between Capcom and Legendary gives this studio the rights to the production of the new Street Fighter movie. However, Sony will be responsible for the distribution due to a contract between them and the recording studio.
The document specifies that Sony will distribute all of the films Legendary produces. In addition to Street Fighter, they will distribute Dune: Part Two, which will release on November 3, 2023.
Image via Capcom
Considering the previous results, Capcom’s reason for releasing a new Street Fighter movie is a crucial detail to study. The defence could be anchored on the recent success of films based on games. We only need to look at Sonic The Hedgehog’s success with his two films with Paramount and the Tekken animated series. Another great example is HBO’s The Last of Us, based on the video game. Next, we will see the Super Mario Bros. Movie from Nintendo and Illumination.
So perhaps even though the three previous Street Fighter movies had a regular to lousy performance, the new film could change this trend. After all, their animated series greatly impacted the fans before. Hopefully, Legendary will do justice to this game that influenced many of us during childhood.
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