The live-action Street Fighter film is finally in theaters, with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Andrew Schulz, Callina Liang, Noah Centineo and Andrew Koji in the cast.

Capcom launched the first Street Fighter video game in 1987 and followed it with Street Fighter II, which became a best-seller. The latest version came out in 2023. The franchise, one of Capcom’s flagship series, had sold 60 million units worldwide as of July 2026.

“Everything in this movie felt very real, from rehearsals to filming,” David Dastmalchian, who plays the villain M. Bison, told AfroTech Culture. “I think every single actor put their all into it. I think the second unit team was so incredible in helping. Kitao [Sakurai] was so involved, and we had so many rehearsals, even like set rehearsals, and figuring out what we are going to do with the scene, what should the choreography look like. It was just a blast.”

He added, “In terms of making it feel video game-ish, I mean, it wasn’t too difficult in that department because we had so much rehearsal, we had so much time to develop [our] moves and our characters, and everyone was just so supportive.”

Bringing creative risk to a major gaming IP

Kitao Sakurai directed the film. He is known for The Eric Andre Show and Bad Trip, and he brought that same unpredictability to the film.

“For me, film and filmmaking, there’s kind of two parts to it,” said Sakurai. “One is the concept and the story, like the narrative of it. But the other part is capturing something real in front of you. Real people doing real things. Whether that’s an Eric Andre Show prank or an incredible performance that these guys are giving. You want to feel this kind of lightning in a bottle, a chaotic thing that you’re just capturing once, and I think that’s the magic of movie-making, and entertainment and real people doing real things. That was kind of my guiding light, through this process, to try and capture something that felt real and fun, and to welcome the audience into the incredible sense of party and friendship that we all had while making it.”

Tapping into a built-in audience

Cody Rhodes plays Guile, an Air Force veteran, and comedian Andrew Schulz plays Dan Hibiki, a martial artist who doubles as Ken’s manager. Both have built their own platforms.

“I’m part of a company, and I’m so grateful for that platform, but we’ve been doing so much DIY, so much on our own, and brand building,” Rhodes explained. “For example, American Nightmare, I have my own brand guidelines and developed them for what they are over the years to get to this, and Capcom, specifically, knows where Guile is at, what Guile is. To look back at some of the graphic novels or anime about how Guile would approach this, all that information is already there. So there was this element of being able to say, ‘Hey, Kitao was born to make this movie. They put the perfect people in these roles.’ It was a really nice thing to go, ‘I trust you. I know what I’ve loaded up; I’ve got some fun stuff here, but what you have on the page is wonderful, and that’s where we’re gonna do it.’”

Lessons from ‘Street Fighter’

Callina Liang plays Chun-Li, the only woman on the original character select screen of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.

“When I was growing up and playing the Street Fighter II game, as a little Chinese girl, seeing somebody, not only just as a woman, but also as another Asian woman in this crazy, big video game, it inspired me to grow up to be strong,” said Liang. “That I could kick ass as well, and that I could beat all the men in the room. That’s what I hope little girls [watching] take away. I’m also a huge gamer now. I’m in the gaming community, and I don’t know, I just think it’s time for women to rise to the top. I hope they feel empowered and that they know that they can grow up and be just as strong as her, if not stronger.”

Noah Centineo and Andrew Koji play Ken and Ryu.

“Friendships, relationships, it takes care and a lot of energy,” said Centineo. “It takes time, and you have to be willing to have hard conversations, and sometimes it requires you to step away from each other for a long time, before you’re both ready to communicate effectively to get to the root of the problem, or to share something that you’ve done. I think Ken and Ryu, their dynamic is actually quite a real one between brothers. Hopefully we provide a bit of a roadmap for how to make amends after being estranged.”