'Street Fighter' targets $25–35 million North American opening weekend

‘Street Fighter’ opens with a “fiery” and “anime-inspired” 2D animation sequence from Titmouse Inc., before moving into live action. The change brings a “less serious tone” and a film described as “consistently funny”.

At approximately the halfway mark, the story arrives at its central tournament, an elimination series of seven fights. Ryu, played by Andrew Koji, is presented as the winner of the first ever World Warrior tournament in 1987. Ken, portrayed by Noah Centineo, is among the colourful brawlers competing in the high-stakes contest. Don Lee plays Gouken, while pro wrestler Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoa’i plays Akuma.

After that midpoint, one assessment describes the film as “disastrously scattered, between setups and payoffs at complete odds, confounding ADR, and a total lack of any actual conclusion”. The Titmouse animation gives way to live action and comedy, though the transition is said to leave the second half structurally incoherent.

That uneven journey now reaches cinemas as Paramount and Legendary’s ‘Street Fighter’ is forecast to open with $25–35 million in North American ticket sales this weekend. It took $4 million in Thursday previews.

The film is the first release in Paramount’s global distribution deal with Legendary. Legendary and video game developer Capcom co-financed it for $82 million. Kitao Sakurai directed the Capcom adaptation, which also stars Callina Liang, Jason Momoa and 50 Cent.

The forecast leaves the opening result unresolved. The film has the familiar contest and recognisable fighters at its centre, yet its commercial test will be whether that tournament can bring audiences through a story whose latter half has been criticised sharply in one assessment.