Paramount looks for Street Fighter to kick off with impressive earnings beginning October 16th. Based on the video game series that started nearly 40 years ago, it arrives 32 years after the Jean-Claude Van Damme version was a box office flop. Kitao Sakurai, best known for making the 2021 Eric André hidden cam comedy Bad Trip, directs. The cast includes Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Roman Reigns, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, the filmmaker’s buddy Eric André, Andrew Schulz, Vidyut Jammwal, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Jason Momoa.

I definitely think this will fare better than what greeted Mr. Van Damme in 1994. Originally slated for March, video game adaptations have become a financially potent genre lately with examples including the Super Mario and Sonic pics, A Minecraft Movie, and, most recently, Resident Evil. The best comp might come from earlier this year via Mortal Kombat II and its $38.5 million debut. I have Fighter slightly behind in the lower 30s.

Street Fighter opening weekend prediction: $31.5 million