For nearly 40 years and across six mainline entries — plus dozens of spinoffs and rereleases — Street Fighter has been one of gaming’s most enduring franchises. But adaptations of the magical martial arts source material have proven tricky, with previous attempts garnering mixed reception from fans and critics.
Capcom and Legendary’s highly anticipated new Street Fighter movie made its debut in movie theaters this weekend, giving fans of the fighting game franchise their third live-action adaptation. While the final result is once again dividing fans, Street Fighter has managed to pull off at least one win: The movie has set a new record for the franchise, easily blowing past its predecessors.
Street Fighter opened on Oct. 16, and the film’s first weekend is being viewed as a success. According to data from BoxOfficeMojo, Street Fighter earned $31 million domestically during its opening weekend. That puts Street Fighter well ahead of this weekend’s other debuts, Nathan Fielder’s documentary You Can See Everything (which earned $15 million) and Austin Abrams’ trapped-in-a-whale-survival-movie Whalefall (which earned just $8 million).
Where Street Fighter is winning the biggest is against previous adaptations. The 1994 Street Fighter movie that starred Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile opened to $6.8 million domestically, with a final haul of $33 million. Worldwide, 1994’s Street Fighter ended its theatrical run with a $99 million gross, according to BoxOfficeMojo. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, the 2010 live-action adaptation starring Kristin Kreuk in the title role, fared far worse: It opened to just $4.7 million domestically and grossed a paltry $12.7 million worldwide. The new Street Fighter bested the previous two live-action film’s opening weekends combined.
Street Fighter is a hit with fans
While none of the live-action Street Fighter films have been a hit with critics, the latest attempt is at least winning over fans. Street Fighter (2026)’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score (aka the Popcornmeter) is at 79% after opening weekend. Compare that to 1994’s Street Fighter, which has a 20% Popcornmeter, and The Legend of Chun-Li with an even-lower 18% audience score.
The new Street Fighter still has a long way to go to meet its $82 million budget. The movie is also drawing negative comparisons to fighting game movie rival Mortal Kombat 2‘s box office from earlier in the year. Warner Bros.’ MK2 opened to $38.5 million domestically and ultimately grossed $129 million — an underperformance based on the $80 million budget. We’ll see if the Street Fighter 2 teased at the end of the new Street Fighter comes to pass.
Street Fighter was directed and co-written by Kitao Sakurai. The movie stars Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, and Callina Liang as Chun-Li, with Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Orville Peck as Vega, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, Alexander Volkanovski as Joe, and Kyle Mooney as Marvin.