Street Fighter Was Never Going to Be a Dark, Grounded Batman Begins-Style Movie, Director Insists — the Studio Wanted Silliness and Absurdity

Street Fighter is the number one movie in North America, but it’s sparked much debate about its goofy tone. Some fans of Capcom’s fighting game franchise had wanted something darker and more grounded than what they got, but according to the movie’s director, that was never on the cards.

Director Kitao Sakurai told The Hollywood Reporter that the studio behind the movie, Legendary, wanted something that he had become known for through the likes of The Eric Andre Show and Bad Trip: absurdity.

Sakurai said he'd never have got the job as writer and director if he had he pitched Legendary 'the Batman Begins of Street Fighter movies.'

“We, for sure, wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” he said. “The assignment specifically came about because of the spiritual nature of Street Fighter and the fact that it’s not gory. There’s a silliness to it, and there’s an absurdity to the world and the characters and how they interact. [Producer] Cale Boyter at Legendary really held the torch for this vision of Street Fighter that had a gonzo energy to it. I also love comedy and craziness and energy.

“Sometimes things don’t necessarily need to make sense for you to lean in and love them. That was a big lesson from The Eric Andre Show. There’s a quote from a famous stand-up comic who says that if you do a 60-minute stand-up special, not every minute needs to be hilarious and funny, but every minute needs to be interesting. So there can be elements that are so ridiculous they might not track narratively or make sense conceptually, but because they’re part of an overall energy and feeling, they fit. So I kept that in mind when I was developing this film.”

The result is a film that was panned by critics but audiences are enjoying. Street Fighter has a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and a 78% rating on its Popcornmeter, highlighting this divide. IGN’s Street Fighter review returned a 6/10. We said: “Street Fighter benefits from a very enthusiastic cast and an anarchic spirit, but Kitao Sakurai’s adaptation of the Capcom games struggles to focus all that energy into a well-told story.”

The question for Legendary and for Sakurai is, will Street Fighter do well enough to get a sequel? The movie leaves the door open to a follow-up with various teases for where it might go. But is anything in the works? Sakurai kept his cards close to his chest.

“It’s something we’re thinking about,” he said. “We haven’t put pen to paper. This is a story that we all love, and I would love to tell more of it. I think everybody in the cast had such an incredible time, so there’s certainly interest in it. But there’s nothing set in stone or any concrete plans.”

We've got plenty more on Street Fighter while you wait to find out what's next, including its opening weekend box office, why we think it makes a mistake that Mortal Kombat already learned from, and our breakdown of its ending.