As Legendary continues to assemble an eclectic cast for its upcoming Street Fighter movie, Deadline says that David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Murderbot, Late Night with the Devil) will enter the fray as the iconic Street Fighter II villain and leader of the criminal organization Shadaloo, M. Bison. Over the years, gamers have sacrificed many quarters to defeat Master Bison, a self-imposed dictator, megalomaniac, arms trafficker, and mind control madman. M. Bison wants nothing more than to control the world, and he’ll set anyone who stands in his way ablaze with his devastating Psycho Crusher move to get it.
Bad Trip’s Kitao Sakurai directs Legendary’s Street Fighter movie from a screenplay by Dalan Musson (Captain America: Brave New World, Iron Sky: The Coming Race, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). Callina Liang (Presence, Bad Genius) plays Chun-Li, Orville Peck plays Vega, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson plays Balrog, while rumored character castings find Jason Momoa playing Blanka, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Roman Reigns as Akuma, and controversial podcaster Andrew Schultz as Dan.
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 (as M. Bison). 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.
Street Fighter is one of the most beloved fighting game franchises in history. The first game in the series, Street Fighter, hit arcades in 1987, followed by Street Fighter II in 1991. I was there, man. For both of them! I remember going to Nathan’s Famous restaurants to play the original, and it was a madhouse. People of all ages hooted and hollered around the Street Fighter cabinet as Ryu and Ken duked it out. There was something special about Street Fighter from the start, and the franchise grew with each iteration. I’ll never forget the first time I unleashed Blanka’s electric attack or Chun-Li’s Hundred Lightning Kicks. What a time to be alive!
The Street Fighter franchise has produced countless special editions, remakes, sequels, and spinoffs. It has sold 49 million units worldwide, helping to keep the fighting game genre alive and well since the 1980s.
What do you think about David Dastmalchian playing M. Bison in Legendary’s Street Fighter movie? Will his performance be as over the top as Raúl Juliá’s from the 1994 original? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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