The upcoming Street Fighter movie will be directed by Kitao Sakurai. It's slated to release on March 20, 2026, barring any potential, and more than likely, delays.
Legendary Pictures acquired both the TV and film rights for the franchise, with Sony Pictures serving as distributor. Announced in early 2023, brothers Danny and Michael Philippou were originally hand-picked to helm the project.
The Australian filmmakers were hot off the indie hit horror movie Talk to Me. More importantly, they created the RackaRacka YouTube channel, showcasing their flair and love for Street Fighter with a short film that amassed over 8 million views.
Sadly, conflicting schedules meant the duo had to back down from the project, leaving Legendary with no director to move forward with the project for months. After rumors suggested it, Kitai Sakurai was officially confirmed as the one stepping up to the plate.
This will only be Kitao's third film following Aardvark (2010) and Netflix's Bad Trip (2021). Other credits include serving as executive producer for The Eric André Show and the TV show adaptation of another videogame: Twisted Metal.
Despite the relative small resume from the director, fans are excited to see a new rendition of Street Fighter on the big screen. Just a quick look at social media should be enough to see that the response seems to be overwhelmingly positive.
Details regarding the production of the film are immensely scarce. As mentioned, the original March 2026 release date was set back in June 2024, soon after Legendary and Sony lost the Danny and Michael Philippou brothers as directors.
No casting or any other relevant piece of news has been shared, which is worrying considering the film is supposed to be released in roughly 13 months.
The film will be a live-action adaptation of the Capcom IP with the Japanese company highly involved in the process. As beloved as the 90s film is to fans, it was very much considered a dud when it released, despite featuring a star-studded cast that included Jean-Clade Van Damme as the all-American hero Guile or Ming-Na Wen as Interpol agent Chun-Li. She was portrayed as a reported in the film, so you can see why Capcom is having a more hands-on approach this time.
Hopefully, this film brings some interesting cross-promotional content to Street Fighter 6, who recently just released Mai Shiranui as their latest DLC to great response.