Legendary Entertainment and Capcom have found the director for their upcoming feature adaptation of the classic video game Street Fighter in Kitao Sakurai, with the film set for release on 20 March 2026.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Sakurai is best known for writing, directing and exec producing the 2012 sketch comedy television series The Eric Andre Show. In addition, he also reunited with Andre for the 2021 comedy film Bad Trip, which he co-wrote and directed. As far as video game adaptations are concerned, Sakurai also played a hand in directing several episodes of Peacock’s 2023 post-apocalyptic television series Twisted Metal, which was based on the classic 1995 video game of the same name.
As one of the most iconic fighting game franchises of all time, Capcom’s Street Fighter traces its roots to the 1987 arcade game, spearheading several standards of the genre used in later games such as six-button controls and the use of command-based special moves. The series would go on to spawn numerous spin-offs, crossovers, and six more mainline titles, with its latest numbered entry being 2023’s Street Fighter 6, revolutionizing the concept of one-on-one fighting gameplay.
This isn’t the first time Hollywood has tried to bring the legendary franchise to the big screen, with the 1994 Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen and Raul Julia, along with 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which starred Kristin Kreuk in its titular role. Both movies were critical and commercial flops, although the former managed to attain cult status over the following years.
Before landing on Sakurai, Legendary Entertainment’s upcoming project was previously set to be directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, the twin filmmakers behind A24’s 2022 horror film Talk to Me. The duo were previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter to be in final negotiations but has since fallen through in favour of Sakurai.
No other details of the upcoming film have been revealed thus far. Street Fighter is currently set for release on 20 March 2026.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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