Street Fighter (1994)

Street Fighter is a 1994 action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza, based on the video game series of the same name developed and published by Capcom. It was one of two films released in 1994 specifically adapting Street Fighter II, following Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. Distributed by Universal Pictures in the United States and Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International internationally, the film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia. The film was commercially successful, with a worldwide box office gross approximately three times its production costs.

Plot:

In the Southeast Asian nation of Shadaloo, civil war occurs between the forces of drug lord-turned-General M. Bison and the Allied Nations led by Colonel William F. Guile. Bison captures 63 A.N. relief workers, and via a live broadcast, demands Guile secure a US$20 billion ransom in three days. Guile refuses and vows to track Bison down and place him on trial for his crimes. His assistant, Lieutenant Cammy White, is only partially able to pinpoint Bison’s location to the river-delta region outside the city. One hostage is Guile’s friend Sergeant Carlos “Charlie” Blanka, who Bison orders taken to his lab for his captive

scientist, Dr. Dhalsim, to turn into the first of his supersoldiers. Though Charlie is severely disfigured by the procedure, Dhalsim secretly alters his cerebral programming to maintain Charlie’s humanity. American con artists and martial artists Ryu Hoshi and Ken Masters attempt to swindle arms dealer Viktor Sagat by selling him fake weaponry. Sagat sees through the ruse and has Ryu fight his cage champion, Vega. However, Guile bursts in and arrests everyone present for violating a curfew.

Box office:

The film earned $3,124,775 on its opening day. It grossed $9,508,030 on its opening weekend, ranking at #3 behind Dumb and Dumber and The Santa Clause at the box office. On its second weekend it grossed $7,178,360 and dropped down to #7. The film grossed $33,423,521 at the domestic box office and $66,000,000 at the international box office, making a total of $99,423,521 worldwide. According to the 2024 shareholder’s meeting at Capcom, the movie is still making tens of millions of yen each year.

Home media:

The film was released on the VHS format in 1995, initially for video rental stores. In the United States, the film sold more than 250,000 rental tapes in 1995. The film was also broadcast on cable television, and later released on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital streaming. The film’s home video releases and television broadcasts have been profitable for Capcom, which earned a return of ¥15.5 billion ($165 million) from the film’s box office and home media revenue.