The latest film adaptation of Capcom's Street Fighter franchise opens Friday, and Kalshi traders expect a lukewarm reception from critics.
Kalshi traders forecast a 43% Rotten Tomatoes critics score for Street Fighter, which would put the film in “Rotten” territory.
The film's review embargo lifts Thursday, with press screenings scheduled for Wednesday.
For informational purposes only. Not trading advice. See full disclaimer below. Kalshi is not affiliated with Street Fighter or Legendary Pictures.
What’s the movie about?
The latest film is based on Capcom’s long-running Street Fighter fighting game franchise that launched in arcades in 1987.
According to the film’s official website, the story takes place in 1993, shortly after the release of Street Fighter II. The mysterious Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang, recruits estranged fighters Ken Masters, played by Noah Centineo, and Ryu, played by Andrew Koji for the new “World Warrior” tournament.
However, there’s more at stake in this tournament than a trophy and a fight purse. M. Bison, played by David Dastmalchian, has his own plans for the tournament, forcing the fighters to confront one another and their troubled pasts “and if they don’t, it’s game over!” according to the official synopsis.
The film also stars Roman Reigns as Akuma, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, and Jason Momoa as Blanka.
A mix of live-action and animation
Although the trailer primarily features live-action footage, the film also uses anime-inspired animation to explore its characters' backstories.
Polygon’s Michael McWhertor spoke with director Kitao Sakurai about how the animation fits into the film’s story.
Sakurai explained that the anime-inspired animated sequences help explain some of the backstories of the fighters. The animated sequences were produced by Los Angeles-based animation studio Titmouse, the same studio that worked on projects like Big Mouth and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
“When we were writing it, we knew that we needed to understand the sort of emotional backstories of Ken and Ryu and what led them to this place, because that’s really the heart of the story,” Sakurai said. “Traditionally, if you’re gonna do these flashback sequences, you need to make a choice whether to [either] de-age the actors or to hire child actors, and with the tone that we were going for, none of that felt right.”
The animation also helped establish the film's tone while drawing on the franchise's longstanding connection to anime.
“We were just thinking, ‘Ok, well, Street Fighter has this incredible connection to anime,’ like very deeply so,” Sakurai said. “So why don’t we go for a weird, bold choice to animate these backstory sequences and make them these incredible pops of energy rather than something that might be cheesy or take you out of the movie.”
The takeaway:
Kalshi markets now predict
Street Fighter’s Rotten Tomatoes rating: 43%
Follow Danny Gallagher on Instagram: @writerdannygallagher
Follow Kalshi on X: @Kalshi | Image Source: Legendary Pictures
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