The Street Fighter movie is parting ways with its directors, Talk to Me's Danny and Michael Philippou and the timeline of production is partly to blame.
The development comes as Legendary announced last year that it had picked up the rights to adapt Capcom's popular fighting game series for both film and television. At the helm of the project were Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou.
Street Fighter Movie Loses Directors
(Photo : Capcom / Screenshot taken from official website)
Reports note that the Philippous are now out of the movie production because Legendary and Capcom want to start work on the movie sooner. However, the brothers were allegedly unable to commit to the desired timeline.
On the other hand, the two directors already have their next movie lined up, Bring Her Back, with A24 which features Sally Hawkins and Billy Barratt in the leading roles. That particular film will start production later this month.
It was not clear just how far along the script was for the Street Fighter movie before the Philippou brothers parted ways with its production. However, Legendary is already looking for a new director to take the helm, according to GameSpot.
The video game franchise began its run in the arcade with the original Street Fighter which was released in 1987. However, the games themselves did not become a worldwide phenomenon until 1991, which is when Street Fighter II became a blockbuster hit in arcades and later on consoles.
There have since been several sequels and spin-off titles that were released and the most recent entry in the franchise is Street Fighter 6. That particular title is available on arcades, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.
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So far, there have also been only two live-action American Street Fighter movies with the first released in 1994 starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen, Kylie Minogue, and the late Raul Julia. The second was a reboot film that starred Kristin Kreuk.
All in all, the Street Fighter franchise has sold 49 million units worldwide and the latest installment came out last year, said the Hollywood Reporter.
Surge of Live-Action Adaptations
A project that is as big as Street Fighter seemed to be a natural progression of the filmmaking duo's quick rise in the industry. They were previously best known for their popular YouTube channel RackaRacka.
However, Talk to Me had swiftly put the Philippou brothers on the Hollywood map as it came out to rave reviews and a solid enough box office. The latter was even enough to have a sequel greenlit where the brothers will come back to the director role.
So far since it was announced, the Street Fighter movie has remained mysterious aside from the Philippou brothers' attachment. The film's other creatives and plot details have been kept mostly secret from the public.
Capcom, as part of a previously announced deal with Legendary, will be involved in all future Street Fighter adaptations. The franchise's last foray into Hollywood came in the form of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which was released in 2009, which is the reboot with Kreuk, according to IGN.
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