Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1994 film ‘Street Fighter.’

Everett

Street Fighter is preparing to boom into theaters in 2026.

Sony Pictures announced Wednesday that the new movie based on the popular video game franchise will be released theatrically on March 20, 2026. The Legendary film is co-developed and produced with Capcom, the company behind the long-running series of fighting games.

Also set to hit theaters that day is Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary, the outer space-focused film from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller that stars Ryan Gosling.

The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this month that Street Fighter had lost directors Danny and Michael Philippou, with scheduling partly to blame. The Philippous, who helmed last year’s horror movie Talk to Me, have been gearing up to shoot their A24 film Bring Her Back, starring Sally Hawkins and Billy Barratt.

The Street Fighter franchise kicked off with the arcade fighting game that debuted in 1987, followed by the wildly popular Street Fighter II in 1991. The most recent edition, Street Fighter 6, was released last year.

A film adaptation hit theaters in 1994 and starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, Raúl Juliá as M. Bison, and Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li. Director Steven E. de Souza’s feature centered on a colonel (Van Damme) gathering a group of fighters to help free a collection of kidnapped UN delegates.

In 2009, 20th Century Fox released Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which underperformed at the box office. That film starred Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li, Neal McDonough as M. Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie Nash, and Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog.

Last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie underscored the draw of video game properties at the cineplex, with the Universal animated film surpassing a billion dollars at the global box office. A sequel is scheduled to hit theaters April 3, 2026, two weeks after the planned Street Fighter release.