Street Fighter Director Kitao Sakurai on Rollerblading Demons, Eric Andre and a Possible Sequel
Before he directed a Street Fighter movie, Kitao Sakurai played a demonic rollerblading triplet enforcer in Kevin Smith's Dogma, released in 1999. In a new Hollywood Reporter interview, published on 21 October 2026, he talks about the film's anime sequences, its ending and where a sequel could go.
Sakurai was a teenage actor based in Cleveland when he made Dogma. He later dropped out of college at 19 and moved to New York to make independent films. His first steady work behind the camera was as a music video cinematographer, the person who decides how each shot looks.
In the mid-2000s, he met the comedian Eric Andre on a shoot. The two developed a proof of concept, a short sample meant to show how an idea could work on screen, for The Eric Andre Show. Other networks passed on it. Adult Swim picked it up in 2010. The show has since produced 60 episodes, several specials and an Emmy win.
His feature directing debut, Aardvark, premiered in 2010. His second feature, Bad Trip, starred Andre and Lil Rel Howery. It was first slated for a 2019 theatrical release through MGM's Orion Pictures. Netflix acquired it for streaming in 2021.
Now comes Street Fighter, a live-action film based on the long-running Capcom video game. Noah Centineo stars, and Legendary Entertainment produced it. Legendary describes the film as bringing the battle from the arcade to the big screen. The film was set to open in cinemas on 16 October. The interview describes it as the number-one movie in America.
Sakurai credits Legendary producer Cale Boyter with keeping a wild, loose, "gonzo" energy in the project. Gonzo, a term from journalism, describes a style that is fast, unpredictable and hands-on. Sakurai has also said that a thing does not have to make complete sense for people to lean in and love it. That idea runs through the interview.
