Last year, we learned that Capcom and Legendary Pictures were teaming up to make a new live-action Street Fighter movie, with Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Phillip quickly joining the production. Now, the two producers have just stepped down from the project due to scheduling issues, but that hasn’t stopped distributor Sony Pictures from setting a tentative release date.
On June 27, the official sent an update message to IGN and other websites, confirming the news. The film will be released on March 20, 2026 (at least in the US)This could be a sign that the film is moving forward full steam ahead regardless of recent creative changes, but should we? Even remote
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Legendary is riding a strong wave of momentum right now, with Dune: Episode II and Godzilla vs Kong: A New Empire both ranking among the best performing films of 2024 at the box office and resonating with critics and mainstream audiences alike. It’s also worth noting that the company has produced some of the best big-screen video game adaptations we’ve received to date: Duncan Jones’ Warcraft and the charming Pokémon: Detective Pikachu movie. With video games 100% set to become Hollywood’s next big obsession in terms of franchises, can the new Street Fighter hope to capture some of that energy and improve on those results?
While Legendary seems to have the right mindset, everything comes down to the creatives behind the scenes, and that starts with the screenwriter, who is nowhere to be seen. Mind you, Legendary definitely has someone writing the script, otherwise there wouldn’t be a release date. Still, it’s a strange promise to make when your movie looks like it’s stuck in development hell from the outside. If production needs to start sooner rather than later, we’d expect the powers that be to find another director (or duo) as soon as possible, but the secrecy so far is worrisome, and just letting fans know who’s writing the script could go a long way toward generating buzz.
If the early 2026 release window holds, then a new big-screen version of the game could not come at a better time, as the game has surged in mainstream popularity thanks to Street Fighter VI’s more approachable (but workable) systems and strong post-launch support; of course, we’d also expect a traditional super-sized version to arrive at some point, too.
Capcom might also want to get the new movie out as soon as possible, probably for the simpler reason that the original Street Fighter movie (1994), while not considered very good by most, still brought in a decent amount of revenue for the company. And we’ll never talk about that movie from the 2000s starring Chun-Li.
