Street Fighter Movie and TV Rights Acquired by Legendary
Capcom's Street Fighter could receive TV and film adaptations thanks to a new agreement with Legendary Entertainment. According to reporting from The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary will be working with Capcom on projects based on the beloved fighting game franchise. As of this writing, no further information has been revealed about the deal, or when fans might be able to expect these projects to come to fruition. The deal comes as video game adaptations are having a bit of a renaissance, thanks to movies and shows such as Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Last of Us.
As long-time fans are well-aware, Legendary's adaptation will not be the first one based on the games, as a live-action Street Fighter movie released in theaters in 1994. The film released during an era where Hollywood's video game adaptations played fast and loose with their source material, much to the disappointment of gamers. Street Fighter was panned on release, suffering a fate similar to 1993's live-action Super Mario Bros. movie. Fittingly enough, Mario is getting a second chance at the big screen later this week, and early impressions have been quite positive. Hopefully Street Fighter's next chance will prove just as positive!
The original Street Fighter debuted in arcades in 1987, but it wasn't until the game's sequel in 1991 that the series truly became a household name. Street Fighter II introduced some of the most iconic characters in the franchise, including favorites like Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, and series antagonist M. Bison. The game is often credited with revitalizing the arcade scene of the early '90s, as players spent countless quarters battling it out.
Over the last three decades or so, Street Fighter has become one of Capcom's biggest franchises, rivaled only by Resident Evil and Monster Hunter. Both of those franchises have similarly gotten live-action adaptations over the last few years, though the results have been a bit mixed. An adaptation based on the company's Mega Man franchise is also reportedly coming to Netflix.
Are you excited to see what Legendary does with Street Fighter? What would you want to see from a Street Fighter adaptation? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!