Street Fighter (2026): The Video Game Movie About to Swing for $22–29M

Three days out from release, and the weirdest movie of October is about to step into the ring. Street Fighter — Paramount and Legendary's live-action reboot of the Capcom classic — opens October 16, and it might be the single strangest cast ever assembled for a studio blockbuster: a WWE champion as Akuma, a UFC champion as Joe, 50 Cent as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, and a masked singer as Vega.

This is the third live-action Street Fighter movie ever — and if tracking holds, it will open bigger than the first two combined.

The story (set in 1993)

The film goes full period piece: it's set in 1993, back when the arcade cabinets ruled. Estranged fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are pulled back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament. But behind the tournament hides a deadly conspiracy — one that forces the two rivals to face each other and their pasts. Lose, and it's game over.

The 1993 setting isn't a gimmick; it's the whole point. Director Kitao Sakurai — best known for The Eric Andre Show, which tells you a lot — is billing this as an action comedy, and the trailers lean hard into camp. Early reactions are split right down the middle: half the internet loves the chaotic energy, half thinks the nostalgia is doing all the heavy lifting.

The full fight card

Beyond the leads, the ensemble is a fever dream of casting:

Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i is Akuma — the actual WWE champion stepping into the most feared role in the franchise. Cody Rhodes is Guile. David Dastmalchian (the genre's favorite weirdo) is M. Bison. Then it gets wilder: Jason Momoa as Blanka, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Balrog, Orville Peck as Vega, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, Alexander Volkanovski (UFC) as Joe, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, and Don Lee as Gouken. The screenplay is by Sakurai and T.J. Fixman, from a story by Dalan Musson and Gary Dauberman. It's rated PG-13.

Box office: the $22–29M question

Here's where it gets interesting. Boxoffice Pro's long-range forecast (Sept. 25) originally put the domestic opening at $30–40 million — roughly on par with Mortal Kombat II, which opened to $38.5 million back in May. But the trajectory since then has been straight downhill: on Oct 12, the Global Box Office tracker slashed its projection to $22–29M citing weak presales, and most presale reads now land in the low-$20Ms — below even Masters of the Universe's $29.3M opening.

But there's a darker read. The same outlet notes the film's tracking has hugged Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II all summer — and both of those finished as bombs ($113M and $129M worldwide against far bigger expectations). One presale sample even pointed to a $20M-range opening — and a fresh Oct 10 read from EmpireCity Box Office (an X account that tracks presales) says Street Fighter presales are running at roughly half of Mortal Kombat II's pace at the same point, which would also put the opening in the $20M range. The headline version: it's projected to open right where two recent video-game flops landed. If this one goes differently, it happens after opening weekend.

Context on the franchise: the 1994 Street Fighter (Van Damme as Guile, the great Raúl Juliá as Bison) opened to just $6.9M; the 2009 Legend of Chun-Li did $4.7M. Even the low end of today's tracking would be the biggest opening in franchise history.

My take: this one lives or dies on word of mouth

Here's my honest read: the tracking is a shrug, and the shrug is the story. Nobody doubts this movie will be fun — Sakurai plus this cast guarantees chaos — the question is whether "fun chaos" translates to must-see-opening-weekend. Video game movies in 2026 have been all-or-nothing. The ComplexCon takeover last week showed real fan energy, and the Thursday Oct 15 IMAX fan screenings will be the first real read on whether this thing has legs.

Reviews land this week — press screenings are only happening late Wednesday afternoon, with the embargo possibly not lifting until Thursday, the day before release. That's a nervous-studio move. But remember Other Mommy: weak presales, terrible reviews (20% RT), and it still opened to $27.5M. Presales aren't destiny. If the reviews are decent and the action comedy lands, the mid-$20Ms are very real. If it's a mess? The floor is ugly. That's the honest range, and I wouldn't bet my rent on either end.

The bottom line

Street Fighter opens October 16 (with Oct 15 IMAX fan screenings). Tracking now says $22–29M — still the biggest franchise opening ever if it holds, but it's priced below where two recent flops opened, so watch the Thursday preview numbers on the 15th; they'll tell you everything before the reviews do.

Related: Hollywood News Roundup: Oct 13