Legendary’s live-action Street Fighter movie, based on the Capcom video games, has found a new director in Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip), Deadline has learned.
Sakurai inherits the project from Talk To Me filmmakers Danny & Michael Philippou, who attached themselves in April of 2023, following the studio’s acquisition of exclusive film and TV rights to the property.
Street Fighter is a series of fighting games, launched in 1987, which revolves around intense one-on-one battles between a diverse cast of martial artists. While the plot of the film and other attachments are being kept under wraps for now, the games often center around a global fighting tournament organized by M. Bison, the leader of the evil organization Shadaloo.
Street Fighter has sold over 55 million units worldwide since launch, making it one of the most well-known and highest-grossing video game franchises of all time. The most recent installment, Street Fighter 6, won Best Fighting Game at the Game Awards in 2023. The film adaptation is being co-developed and co-produced alongside Capcom, the developer and publisher of the video games.
Emmy nominated for his work on The Eric Andre Show, on which he was director and executive producer, Sakurai is otherwise best known for co-writing and directing Netflix’s chart-topping hidden camera prank pic Bad Trip, also starring Andre.
Also known for directing on series including Twisted Metal, Dave, and The Premise, Sakurai is an EP on the anticipated second season of Beef for Netflix and A24. He’s also directing multiple episodes, including the pilot, of Amazon’s spy thriller Butterfly, starring Daniel Dae Kim, and is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
