Legendary Pictures has acquired the film and TV rights for the Street Fighter franchise, announcing that at least one movie is already in the works in partnership with Capcom. All details regarding the project are yet to be revealed, so we don't know how closely it'll follow the source material.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary has struck an exclusive deal with Capcom to helm all future adaptations of Street Fighter, whether they'll come as big-budget movies for the big screen, or smaller television series. While it's too early for any particular announcements, Street Fighter fans can possibly expect their beloved heroes to get new live-action incarnations sometime in 2024 at the earliest.
Like its rival Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter already got several live-action films, starting with the 90's movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Col. Guile. Unlike the first Mortal Kombat, though, the original Street Fighter movie did not receive the same positive recognition among the fans. Another attempt at bringing the iconic fighting series to the big screen followed in 2009 with Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li, and it wasn't a success either, to say the least.
Legendary has already proved that it can deliver solid adaptations with Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Warcraft among others. Both movies weren't something you could call a smashing success, yet they still managed to draw plenty of viewer attention. The creators will need to strike the right balance for the upcoming Street Fighter projects to satisfy the fans, as people's demands are getting higher these days amidst a growing number of modern gaming adaptations like Sonic the Hedgehog, HBO's The Last of Us, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
As for when we can expect the first Street Fighter film or TV show remains an open question. Nonetheless, fans won't have to wait for too long to play as their favorites, as the next major installment, Street Fighter 6, is coming on June 2 this year.