Update: It’s official! Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will get in the ring as Balrog, the showboating American boxer who loves bourbon, gambling, and ladies! Balrog is M. Bison’s personal bodyguard with devastating boxing moves that take advantage of his ability to dash like lightning and show no mercy to his opponents.
50 Cent joins a stacked cast that includes Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Orville Peck as Vega, and Joe Anoa’i, aka WME superstar Roman Reigns as Akuma.
Original Article: The cast for Legendary’s upcoming Street Fighter movie is starting to come together, and it’s been rumoured that Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson has signed on to play Balrog. Nexus Point News first reported that 50 Cent was in talks for the role, and the multi-hyphenate seemingly confirmed the news on social media.
We have yet to receive official confirmation that 50 Cent is set to play Balrog, but if and when we do, we’ll update the article.
Balrog is a disgraced boxer who first appeared in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991. In the original Japanese release, the character was named M. Bison as a reference to Mike Tyson. However, the developers grew concerned that the name might be a legal liability and changed it when they released the game overseas.
As for the rest of the Street Fighter cast, it was reported earlier this week that Callina Liang (Presence) had signed on to play Chun-Li, the skilled martial artist and Interpol officer. Andrew Koji (Warrior), Noah Centineo (The Recruit), Jason Momoa (Supergirl), Roman Reigns (Hobbs & Shaw), and Orville Peck are also part of the cast.
The film was originally slated to be directed by Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me), but they later dropped out due to scheduling issues. Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip) will now direct the film from a script by Dalan Musson (Captain America: Brave New World).
Street Fighter hasn’t had the best of luck on the big screen. The first live-action Street Fighter film was released in 1994, featuring the talents of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen, and Raúl Juliá. The film was commercially successful, but was largely trashed by critics and audiences, although Julia’s performance as M. Bison was praised. Somehow, the second shot at bringing the franchise to theaters proved even worse. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li starred Kristin Kreuk, Neal McDonough, Chris Klein, and Michael Clarke Duncan and grossed just $12.8 million on a $50 million budget. Here’s hoping this third attempt will get the franchise back on track.
Do you think 50 Cent would make a good Balrog?
