By Street Fighter is back on the big screen, and the new live-action take on Capcom’s legendary arcade franchise comes with one of the strangest and most star-studded ensembles in recent video game movie history.
Paramount and Legendary’s reboot is set in the 1990s and revolves around a worldwide fighting tournament that gathers challengers from every corner of the globe. Leading the charge are Andrew Koji as Ryu and Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, the inseparable training partners who have anchored every main entry in the game series.
The new Street Fighter movie cast (Credits: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection)
WWE and UFC Stars Join the Roster
The headline grabbers are the real-life fighters stepping into iconic roles. Roman Reigns plays the demonic Akuma, Cody Rhodes takes on Guile, and towering strongman Oliver Richters becomes Zangief. They are joined by Callina Liang as Chun-Li, David Dastmalchian as the Shadaloo dictator M. Bison, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, and musician Orville Peck as Vega.
In the film, Ken is reimagined as a loudmouth, washed-up celebrity trying to claw his way back to fighting glory while his old friend Ryu has become world champion — a fresh spin on the rivalry that has defined the games since the 1980s.
The Third Attempt at the Arcade Crown
This is the third live-action Street Fighter film, following the 1994 original starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile and Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li, and the infamous 2009 flop The Legend of Chun-Li with Kristin Kreuk. Kitao Sakurai, known for helming episodes of Beef and Dave, directs this time out.
With its mix of serious actors, wrestlers and real martial artists, the reboot is swinging for a knockout — and the cast list alone has already delivered one.
The casting continues a video game movie trend of blending Hollywood names with genuine combat sports credibility. Reigns and Rhodes are among the most recognizable faces in all of wrestling, and their involvement gives the film instant crossover appeal beyond the gaming audience. Richters, at well over two meters tall, is a physically perfect Zangief.
Setting the story in the 1990s is a canny choice, nodding to the arcade era when Street Fighter ruled the world’s arcades. With Sakurai’s off-kilter comedy background behind the camera, the reboot could go either way — but the sheer audacity of the cast list has already made it one of the most talked-about game adaptations of the year.
Also Read: ‘Street Fighter’ Punches $4M In U.S. Previews, ‘You Can See Everything’ Earns $2M — Box Office Update and Ed Boon Responds To Street Fighter Cast Wanting A Mortal Kombat Crossover Movie
Source: Variety — read the full story there.
