A New Street Fighter Movie Is On The Way. Third Time's The Charm?

According to a new report from Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Entertainment has just procured the exclusive rights to make a live-action "Street Fighter" movie. Legendary is the production company behind numerous successful IP adaptations, such as Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy and the 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Dune," so it's no surprise that it was eager to snap up another legendary property as soon as it became available. "Street Fighter" is one of –if not the – most popular fighting game franchises in the world. Gamers have been able to find versions of the game in virtually every arcade ever since the first title was released all the way back in 1987.

This isn't the first time a production company has attempted to adapt Capcom's iconic fighting game franchise into film, however. Universal released an adaptation in 1991 with Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, and 20th Century Fox released one in 2009 that centered around Kristen Kreuk as Chun Li. Neither of these adaptations were particularly successful and both have left something of a sour taste in the mouths of "Street Fighter" fans that just want to see their favorite fighting game franchise adapted with care. There is some reason to think that Legendary might succeed where others have failed.

Video games are famously difficult to adapt to the big screen. There are numerous examples of film and TV adaptations that fell well short of fans expectations. Most franchises aren't like HBO's "The Last of Us," with the game's already streamlined narrative pre-baked in. Many of them, like "Street Fighter" have copious amounts of lore floating loosely around a much less linear narrative structure. "Street Fighter" is a franchise of fighting games, after all, not a series of RPGs. Fortunately, Legendary Entertainment has some experience creatively adapting video games with a similar narrative structure, with "Detective Pikachu" and "Warcraft" already sitting comfortably in the studio's catalog. There are no guarantees, but Legendary's track record is certainly a good sign that "Street Fighter" fans might finally get the film they've been waiting for.

Deadline has also reported that Capcom will co-develop and produce any projects that Legendary makes using the IP. If true, it might soothe fans' concerns to know that the actual gaming studio responsible for the franchise will have a hands-on role in the adaptation's development.