Last year, Legendary announced that it had picked up the rights to adapt Capcom’s fan-favorite fighting game series, Street Fighter, for both film and television. Talk To Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou also signed on to helm the movie. However, plans have now changed and the Philippou brothers are no longer directing the Street Fighter film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the main reasons why the Philippous are out is because Legendary and Capcom are looking to start production sooner than the brothers were prepared to commit. The Philippous already have their next movie, Bring Her Back, set up at A24 with Sally Hawkins and Billy Barratt in the leading roles. That film will begin production later this month.
It’s unclear how far along the script was for Street Fighter, but Legendary is already looking for a new director to take over. The video game franchise got its start in the arcade with the original Street Fighter in 1987. But the games didn’t become a worldwide sensation until 1991 when Street Fighter II was a blockbuster hit in arcades and later on consoles. Several sequels and spin-off games have been made in the intervening decades. Street Fighter 6 is the most recent release.
There have also been two live-action American Street Fighter movies to date. The first was released in 1994, with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen, Kylie Minogue, and the late Raul Julia in the leading roles. Kristin Kreuk starred in the reboot film, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which bombed in theaters in 2009.