Street Fighter returns to cinemas with 1990s tournament story
Paramount and Legendary's live-action Street Fighter opens in cinemas on 16 October 2026, as reported by Crunchyroll.
The bell rings in the 1990s. The film follows a worldwide fighting tournament that brings challengers from around the world together to compete, according to Variety.
At the centre are Ryu and Ken Masters, the two martial artists who have appeared in every Street Fighter video game, according to Variety. Andrew Koji plays Ryu. Noah Centineo plays Ken. Legendary's film page describes the pair as estranged street fighters and places the action specifically in 1993, as noted by Legendary.
Callina Liang plays Chun-Li, the Interpol officer who first appeared in Street Fighter 2 and was one of the first female characters in any fighting game, according to Variety. David Dastmalchian plays the villain M. Bison. Mel Jarnson plays Cammy.
The wider line-up mixes actors, fighters and wrestling talent. Orville Peck plays Vega, Roman Reigns plays Akuma, Cody Rhodes plays Guile and Oliver Richters plays Zangief, according to Variety. The ensemble includes real-life martial arts fighters, WWE stars and wrestlers, according to Variety.
Kitao Sakurai directs the film, according to Variety. Danny and Michael Philippou, the brothers behind Talk to Me, were previously attached to direct before Sakurai took over, according to Variety.
This is the third live-action Street Fighter film. It follows the 1994 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and 2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, according to Variety.
Behind the screen, the project is a co-production, a film jointly financed and made, between Legendary Pictures and game publisher Capcom, as noted by Legendary. Legendary secured the exclusive live-action film and television rights to the Capcom franchise in 2023, as noted by Legendary. The film is the first title up under Legendary's worldwide distribution arrangement with Paramount Pictures, which puts Paramount in charge of releasing the film to cinemas, as noted by Legendary.
What makes this stand out is the mix. A 1990s setting puts the story close to the arcade era that made the games famous, while a cast drawn from acting, fighting and wrestling brings different physical skills to the tournament format.
