STREET FIGHTER Director Kitao Sakurai Didn’t Want to Make an “Off-the-Shelf” Video Game Movie
If you’re going to make another Street Fighter movie, playing it safe probably isn’t the answer. Director Kitao Sakurai certainly doesn’t think so.
The upcoming Street Fighter movie is embracing the strange, colorful, over-the-top personality of Capcom’s fighting game franchise rather than sanding off its edges for a conventional Hollywood adaptation.
Judging by the campy trailer, the unexpected cast, and the footage released so far, Sakurai and his team seem perfectly comfortable getting weird and crazy with it.
That was apparently the plan from the beginning. Speaking with Empire Magazine, Sakurai explained that the creative team had no interest in making something that felt like another generic video game adaptation.
"Everybody wanted to get behind creating a movie that had a very distinct tone and approach, that didn't feel like an off-the-shelf video-game movie," Sakurai said. "I was brought on to make something that didn't feel conventional, and they really let me do my thing."
Sakurai is an interesting filmmaker to hand Street Fighter to, which may be exactly why he got the job. He comes from a comedy background and is known for his work on The Eric Andre Show, which isn’t exactly the first credit you’d expect to see when looking for someone to bring the World Warrior Tournament to theaters.
Sakurai also co-wrote the screenplay, and it sounds like his unusual sensibilities are a major part of what the filmmakers hope will separate Street Fighter from the growing army of video game movies.
For Sakurai, the goal wasn’t simply to recreate characters, costumes, and special moves from the games. He wanted the movie to capture the kind of excitement that comes from being a kid, grabbing a camera, and trying to recreate the martial arts movies you love with your friends.
"I also really wanted to honour that feeling I had when I was six years old with my best friend, trying to make our [home-movie] version of a Jet Li movie," Sakuri said. "To just have that sense of fun and irreverence, and not worrying what other people think. To hopefully balance nostalgia with something that feels fresh."
This is a franchise filled with fireballs, stretchy limbs, spinning kicks, electric green fighters, sumo wrestlers, masked maniacs, and so many crazy characters. Trying to make all of that overly serious would almost miss the point.
Fans have already gotten a better look at how the movie is handling the actual fighting, including a showdown between Ryu, played by Andrew Koji, and Blanka, played by Jason Momoa. The footage includes hadoukens and Blanka’s trademark electricity, suggesting that the filmmakers aren’t afraid to embrace the games when fists start flying.
This adaptation has a very different flavor from the infamous 1994 Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. That film has developed its own goofy cult appeal over the years, but it wasn’t exactly the faithful Street Fighter adaptation fans had been waiting for.
The franchise tried again with 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li starring Kristin Kreuk, and that didn’t exactly solve the problem.
Now Sakurai gets his shot at breaking the big-screen curse. The new Street Fighter also arrives during a massive year for video game adaptations. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Mortal Kombat 2, and Exit 8 have already arrived in 2026, while director Zach Cregger still has his Resident Evil movie coming.
That puts Street Fighter in a crowded arena, but Sakurai’s refusal to make something conventional could work in its favor. Video game movies have come a long way, and simply being faithful to the source material isn’t enough anymore. They also need their own personality.
If Sakurai can combine the ridiculous fun of Street Fighter, the nostalgia fans want, and some genuinely badass martial arts action without taking the whole thing too seriously, this could finally be the Street Fighter movie that understands why people have loved these characters for decades.