Street Fighter movie and TV rights picked up for "future projects"
The future's looking bright for Ryu & co!
Fans of Street Fighter have something to look forward to, because the film rights of the beloved fighting franchise have been picked up – and this includes TV productions, too.
Perhaps this news means a Street Fighter cinematic universe is on the cards? It would be a perfect tie in with this year's Street Fighter 6. Stranger things have happened.
The beloved fighting franchise was first introduced back in 1987 as an arcade brawler, and its 1991 sequel became a huge hit for consoles. With its success, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a film adaptation would follow.
Unfortunately, the 1994 film with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue was a bit of a stinker. The 2009 follow up Legend of Chun-Li wasn't much better, but 2014's Assassin's Fist seemed to get things right, with critics calling it the most faithful adaptation to date.
This makes us wonder why, almost a decade later, there haven't been any new Street Fighter films. It seemed to be a case of quitting while ahead. Well, with today's news, things are set to change.
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American production company Legendary have acquired the film and TV rights to Street Fighter. Hopefully fans have nothing to worry about, because according to The Hollywood Reporter, the media giants will will "work with video game company Capcom on future projects".
We would hope Capcom's involvement means more Assassin's Fist and less Legend of Chun-Li. Our beloved characters deserve another decent live action adaptation!
The news of the film rights acquisition comes as fans impatiently wait for Street Fighter 6, which is set for release on Friday 2nd June this year for PS4, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. It looks fantastic, with the polished gameplay we've come to expect, and new online modes like the Battle Hub.
If the upcoming films or TV shows are as quality as we hope, it looks like we might be in for a Street Fighter renaissance. Certainly, other gaming franchises like The Last of Us and Sonic the Hedgehog have reaped the rewards of their big budget adaptations, so we'd expect a few more announcements like this in future!
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Authors
Ben Huxley is a freelance contributor to Radio Times, with bylines also in TechRadar, WhatCulture, GAMINGbible, and Live Science. A writer of fiction, too, he has a few short stories published and a novel on the way. He has a BA in English Literature, and an MA in creative writing.
