Over the past several decades, popular culture has evolved in a remarkable way. Bolstered almost exclusively by the entertainment industry, popular culture of the past was primarily influenced by actors, musicians and other individuals of the sort who consumers could expect to see on their television at any given moment. But with advancements in technology and the inception of new industries and forms of media, we have seen popular culture come to rely upon a variety of different individuals and entities which the aforementioned consumers have come to be enthralled with and enamored by. One of the most prominent of these entities is the video game industry, and Hollywood’s latest endeavor highlights how influential video games have become as Legendary Pictures has announced their plans to produce a film based upon the iconic Street Fighter video game franchise.
First released back in 1987, Street Fighter took the video game industry by storm and has remained a mainstay ever since. Featuring a variety of characters which gamers would use to battle each other in heads up brawls, the Street Fighter franchise holds the title as the highest grossing fighting game franchise with over 50 million total units sold and $12.2 billion in revenue as of this year. This won’t be the first time we see the iconic franchise on the big screen either as the first Street Fighter film was released back in 1994 and grossed nearly $100 million in box offices worldwide, but now Legendary Pictures wants to take a shot at making another and is already in the early stages of production. Capcom, alongside Legendary Pictures, have enlisted the help of Danny and Michael Phillipou, YouTubers best known for their intricate and fast paced action videos which seem to be right in line with the concept behind Street Fighter, to direct the film and it seems like they’ve made a great choice as their directorial debut Talk to Me isn’t set to release for two more days yet already has the entertainment industry and consumers alike intrigued to say the least. When asked about the opportunity to direct the new Street Fighter film in an interview with Collider at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Danny Phillipou’s excitement was palpable: “We’d the chance to do an action film. We’d love the chance to do big set pieces of a big budget because even on our YouTube stuff, we’re designing stunt rigs that had never been done before. And to do that on a grand scale, man, I feel like we could create something no one’s ever seen before.” Michael mirrored his sentiments, adding that “diving into the lore of Street Fighter, all the characters, where they come from has been so exciting. You just get endless ideas, so putting them to screen, yeah, I think we can make something special.” While it’s unclear when this new project will see the light of day, it’s seemingly safe to assume that it is in good hands and eager consumers can remain on the lookout for further updates on the budding Street Fighter film as they become available in the near future.
When it comes to fighting games of a similar style, the only video game franchise I can think of that really stacks up to Street Fighter is Mortal Kombat. Funny enough, a Mortal Kombat film was just released by Warner Brothers back in April of 2021 and was a success. While nobody can predict the future, if Danny and Michael Phillipou’s résumés and excitement are any indicator of how good the new Street Fighter film will be then it could very well blow that project out of the water. Only time will tell though and fans should keep their eyes peeled for further Street Fighter updates.
