Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.slashfilm.com
Paramount Pictures
The fall season is firmly upon us, and, right now, the conversation is being dominated by horror movies for the Halloween crowd. That includes films like “Other Mommy” and the R-rated DC Universe body horror flick “Clayface.” But Paramount is giving action fans and gamers something big to enjoy as well in the form of “Street Fighter.” Based on the beloved video game series of the same name, this new movie adaptation boasts a hilariously stacked cast. The question is: Can it succeed at the box office where “Mortal Kombat” fell short?
As of this writing, “Street Fighter” is eyeing a debut in the $25 to $35 million range domestically when it arrives next weekend, per Box Office Theory. It’s opening directly against “Whalefall” ($10 to $15 million), one of two movies about people swallowed by whales currently in the works in Hollywood. That would be a so-so start for the video game film, which hails from director Kitao Sakurai (“Bad Trip”). However, with a presumably very large budget, it’s going to need to leg out and get a lot of help from overseas audiences to avoid disappointing commercially.
Set in 1993, the movie centers on Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), two estranged fighters who are thrust back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against both each other and the demons of their past.
The film’s cast also includes Roman Reigns (Akuma), David Dastmalchian (M. Bison), Cody Rhodes (Guile), 50 Cent (Balrog), and Jason Momoa (Blanka), among others (see: our full “Street Fighter” cast and character guide). Needless to say, those actor salaries are going to add up.
Street Fighter will need a lot of help to become an out-and-out hit
Paramount Pictures
“Street Fighter” was previously adapted for the big screen back in 1994, and the result was one of the worst video game movies of all time. But that was then. Nowadays, Hollywood has finally gotten a handle on how to translate video games into other mediums effectively, with hit films such as “Sonic the Hedgehog” and Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” helping to turn the tide, along with acclaimed TV series like “Fallout.”
For the moment, though, we’re left to wonder: How well did Kitao Sakurai translate this concept to the screen? And will that resonate with general audiences? Fans largely had the same reaction to the first “Street Fighter” trailer, which is that it looks like a great deal of fun. But a movie of this size needs to get casual viewers on board since it was clearly very expensive to make (although an official budget has yet to be revealed at the time of writing).
In terms of comparisons, this year’s “Mortal Kombat II” is undoubtedly the closest we have. It made $129.5 million worldwide following a decent $38.5 million domestic opening at the box office. The problem was that it had terrible legs, and that was pretty much that, as the sequel also failed to drum up much business overseas. (2021’s “Mortal Kombat” made just $84.4 million but was hampered greatly by the pandemic.)
So, can “Street Fighter” find more love overseas? And if reviews are stronger and word of mouth is good, can it have longer legs and perform better than its fighting-game-turned-movie counterpart? It’s not quite one of the biggest box office gambles of 2026, but it’s close. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
“Street Fighter” hits theaters on October 16, 2026.
