"Street Fighter" Finds Its Director

Kitao Sakurai, perhaps best known for writing, directing and exec producing "The Eric Andre Show", has been tapped to direct "Street Fighter", Legendary Entertainment’s feature adaptation of the classic video game from Capcom.

Capcom is deeply involved with the adaptation, with Legendary co-developing and co-producing alongside the video game developer and publisher. The film has a March 20, 2026, release date from Sony.

One of the more enduring fighting video game franchises of all time, the series began life with the 1987 arcade game "Street Fighter" and set a high watermark for arcade fighting games with "Street Fighter II". The game, released in 1991, was the first to offer a choice of characters and fighting techniques, revolutionizing one-on-one play. 

"Street Fighter 6", the latest game in the franchise, was released in June 2023 and won the award for best fighting game at the 2023 Game Awards.

Hollywood has tackled a feature adaptation twice before, including the infamous 1994 version that starred Jean-Claude Van Damme and bombed before going on to gain a cult following.

A previous incarnation of the Street Fighter was set with Danny and Michael Philippou, the Australian twin filmmaker duo behind the horror hit "Talk to Me".

Sakurai recently reteamed with Andre for the comedy feature "Bad Trip", which he co-wrote and directed. The Netflix movie also starred Tiffany Haddish and Lil Rel Howery.

He also serves as an executive producer of the second season of "Beef" for Netflix and A24 and directed the pilot and several episodes of the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series "Butterfly" starring Daniel Dae Kim. He also directed several episodes of Peacock’s postapocalyptic video game adaptation "Twisted Metal".