Street Fighter is officially spin-kicking its way into theaters this week, starting with previews on Thursday and leading into the crucial opening weekend. It's the second movie based on a Capcom IP to make its way to the silver screen this year--following Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film in September--but so far, early estimates for the martial arts extravaganza aren't looking too healthy.
According to Deadline's box-office-predictions, Street Fighter is expected to take in under $70 million worldwide. Of that figure, it's estimated to open with a US box-office take in the high 30 millions on 3,500 screens, and a take in the mid-30 millions internationally.
Typically, movies need to make at least double their production budget back to be considered successful, and with Street Fighter costing $82 million to produce, it doesn't look like it'll recoup its expenses in its first weekend.
There's still a chance it could be a small hit if word of mouth drives audiences to theaters, and in terms of competition, Street Fighter has a few weeks to dominate cinemas as it'll be the biggest action film on the block--at least until the November 1 re-release of V for Vendetta, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The movie won't open in the potentially lucrative market of China, but internationally, the lion's share of sales is expected to come from Mexico, Brazil, the UK, Australia, and Asian markets.
How does that opening stack up against other recent video game movie adaptations? Resident Evil got off to a solid start with a $60 million domestic opening last month, and so far, the film has grossed $324 million worldwide, making it a surprise commercial hit and Cregger's biggest film yet. Meanwhile, Mortal Kombat 2 did much worse when it launched in May, making only $38 million on its opening US weekend and finishing with a worldwide box office total of $129.5 million.
As for the other Street Fighter movies, they've had mixed results. According to Box Office Mojo, the first Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme made $99.4 million during its run, which is pretty great for a 1994 flick, but 2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li was a huge flop. It had an opening weekend of $4.7 million in the US, and it made $12.7 million worldwide.
Street Fighter movies lifetime box office totals
- Street Fighter (1994) -- $99.4 million
- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) -- $12.7 million
- Street Fighter (2026) -- TBA
