‘Street Fighter’ film and TV rights acquired by Legendary Entertainment
American film studio Legendary Entertainment is set to acquire the film and TV rights to the classic video game Street Fighter. Reports suggest that the studio will work with video game company Capcom, the creator of the franchise, on future projects.
Street Fighter is one of the most popular fighting-style video games of all time. First appearing as an arcade game in 1987, Street Fighter has since spawned five official additions to the game’s main series, including the acclaimed 1991 Street Fighter II. The Street Fighter franchise has sold nearly 50million units worldwide, and a new instalment in the series is set to be released on June 6th.
The first attempt to adapt Street Fighter beyond the world of video games came in 1994 when Universal Studios released a 1994 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen and Raul Julia. A decade and a half later, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights and released Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li in 2009, starring Kristin Kreuk in the title role. Both films were critical and commercial failures during their initial releases, although the 1994 film has since accrued a cult following.
The franchise has had better luck in the realm of animation. Four feature-length Street Fighter films have been released: Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, Street Fighter Alpha: Generations, and Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind. The series has also seen four TV series adaptations: a Japanese anime entitled Street Fighter II V, an American cartoon titled Street Fighter, and two live-action web mini-series, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist and Street Fighter: Resurrection.
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