Street Fighter Movie Reportedly Loses Talk to Me Creators

Danny and Michael Philippou apparently will not direct Legendary's Street Fighter adaptation.

By Marc Deschamps

Danny and Michael Philippou are apparently no longer attached to direct the Street Fighter adaptation from Legendary and Capcom. According to sources for The Hollywood Reporter, the twin brothers were forced to exit the movie due to scheduling concerns, as they are prioritizing a new film from A24 titled Bring Her Back. It seems Legendary will move forward with someone else in the director's chair rather than wait on the Talk to Me creators. The involvement of the brothers was revealed in April last year. As of this writing, the departure has not yet been confirmed by Danny and Michael Philippou. 

Reports of the departure come just weeks after a logo for the movie appeared at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo. That would seem to back up THR's reporting that there's a lot of enthusiasm to get started on the project, and that Legendary did not want to wait until production wrapped on Bring Her Back. However, the studio is now forced to find someone else enthusiastic to adapt a video game property that already has two box office bombs to its name. 

The failures of 1994's Street Fighter and 2009's Street Fighter: The Rise of Chun-Li will make Legendary's Street Fighter a tough sell for audiences; fans have now been burned twice, and are going to want to see something that lives up to the proud history of the series. Since 1987, Street Fighter has attracted a huge audience at home and in arcades. Across the franchise's nearly four decade long history, characters like Ryu, Chun-Li, and Blanka have become household names. 

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If the Philippou brothers really have departed Street Fighter, Legendary is going to have to find someone with a passion for the source material that is well-aware of the missteps of the past adaptations. There's always a challenge bringing a beloved game to any medium, but it's going to be a lot harder with one that's been botched twice. Street Fighter has the characters and name recognition to become the next big video game adaptation, but it remains to be seen whether Legendary and Capcom can hit the mark. 

How do you feel about the Philippou brothers departing from Street Fighter? Do you think this one can succeed where the last two failed? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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