Bring back Cpt. Sawada
Legendary Entertainment, theproduction companybehind recent adaptations such asDune, Jurassic World, Godzilla vs Kong, andPokemon: Detective Pikachu, has purchased the film and TV rights to Capcom’s iconic franchiseStreet Fighter.News of the sale was revealed inThe Hollywood Reporter
The deal is expected to see the production company work in alignment with Capcom on any and all future projects, be they streaming series, anime, or live-action movies. The sale comes at a time when the bar for gaming adaptations has been raised, ever-so-slightly, from a critical standpoint, while the potential for financial success has basically never been higher. Paramount Pictures’Sonic the Hedgehogmovies have beenan incredible success, while the forthcomingSuper Mario Bros. Moviealready looks set to be a definite box office winner for producer Marvelous.
Despite its huge universe of characters and its seemingly designed-for-movies action sequences,Street Fighterhas had a very tumultuous time outside of the gaming medium. In animated fashion, fans have enjoyed middling-to-good animes, (as well as atruly abominableanimated series), while live-action fans have endured the campy-but-still-not-very-good 1994 movie, the rubbish 2009 adventureStreet Fighter: The Rise of Chun Li,and the interesting, but limited, 2014 web seriesStreet Fighter: Assassin’s Fist.
Hopefully, this new partnership betweenStreet Fighterand Legendary will see Ryu, Ken, Bison, Cammy and co. return to our screens in some form of fashion, delivering the globe-trotting, soul-seeking, face-smashing adventures that are the series’ trademark. It’s honestly not that hard. Just get the characterization right, and give us rock-solid fight sequences. Nobody is looking for Shakespeare, just treat the material with respect, be true to the characters, and make the action top-tier. Talk toMortal Kombat…they’re getting there.
