Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.cbr.com
When it comes Street Fighter, not every Hadouken is created equal. The franchise that took the fighting world by storm for Capcom with Street Fighter 2 in 1991, leading to the live-action version starring Jean-Claude Van Damme at the peak of his action hero prowess in 1994, sought to deliver a thousand-hand slap to the box office 32 years later with the 2026 reboot.
The remake needed only to best the original Street Fighter movie to be viewed as a success, and it did, but it also did not, depending on what category you’re looking at. Of course, when it comes to Hollywood studios, the category that matters most is box office earnings, and the victor in that arena has officially been declared.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Street Fighter Defeats Remake
The 2026 version of Street Fighter was mostly disliked by critics who apparently thought it was trying to win an Academy Award of some sort, but audiences disagreed. It earned a below-average 42 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, a score that was scoffed at by audiences en route to awarding it a very strong 78 percent approval rating.
Round 1 goes to Street Fighter (2026).
That said, it couldn’t track down the original 1994 film in box office earnings. As of Nov. 10, per IGN, the remake has pulled in roughly $99.1 million worldwide as it nears the end of its theater run — only “1,700 theaters” still carrying it at the moment. That means it’ll likely fall short of the mid-1990s flick starring Van Damme and Raul Julia, seeing as that movie earned $99.4 million worldwide and, adjusted for inflation, the race isn’t even remotely close ($99.4 million in 1994 is equivalent to more than $226 million in 2026).
Round 2 goes to Street Fighter (1994).
Image: Legendary Pictures, Capcom
That sets the stage for Round 3, assuming there will be one and, good news, Capcom is planning on it. Despite the latest live-action Street Fighter suffering a decline after its impressive opening weekend, the gaming giant wants to ratchet up the number of its IPs that are adapted for the big screen.
“In conjunction with [Street Fighter‘s] release, Capcom worked to appeal to a broad audience with initiatives that included a worldwide promotional tour, film premiere events in Japan and the U.S., as well as collaborations with game titles, resulting in the film garnering popularity across the globe,” they recently said. “Capcom is firmly committed to advancing the multifaceted use of its extensive portfolio of game content, guided by its Single Content Multiple Usage strategy, in order to achieve sustainable growth and enhance corporate value.”
Additionally, they’ve signed each of the actors — namely, Cody Rhodes, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns and the entire cast — to a trilogy of Street Fighter films that all but guarantees a third round …. FIGHT!!
- Release Date
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December 23, 1994
- Runtime
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102 minutes
- Director
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Steven E. de Souza
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Jean-Claude Van Damme
Colonel Guile
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