Andrew Koji: ‘We were conscious of doing Street Fighter the movie for fans’

Street Fighter star Andrew Koji has said the cast and crew of the film were “conscious that they were making the movie for fans”.

Based on the video game series of the same name by Capcom, the action comedy film has been directed by Kitao Sakurai.

Set in 1993, the film follows estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Koji) and Ken Masters – played by Noah Centineo – who are thrown back into combat after a mysterious woman named Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament.

However, it is soon discovered that “behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past”.

Andrew Koji has said the cast and crew of Street Fighter felt ‘conscious’ they were making the movie for fans of the video game (Yui Mok/PA)

PA Wire

The first game in the series was released in 1987, with Street Fighter since becoming one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time.

Speaking to the Press Association ahead of the film’s release, Koji explained the pressure they felt to keep fans of the franchise satisfied.

“Yeah, I mean that’s the whole film, isn’t it? Street Fighter historically has not been done that way, so we’re all very conscious of creating it in a way which was for the fans and by fans,” he said.

“You know, a lot of people on set grew up playing it. They were playing it while we were filming it. They had the arcade game. Everyone was loving it.”

Centineo added that it was a game he had also played for years.

“I actually grew up playing it with my family. My cousins owned one of the original Street Fighter II cabinet setups and so when I would go over to their house, we would go down and we would play the game, and that was actually how I first learnt about the game. And then years later, boom, we’re doing Street Fighter, the movie,” he said.

Taking on roles of fighters, the cast had to overhaul their diets and training schedules to beef up for the roles.

Liang said: “I was having 12 eggs a day. It was a crazy diet. I was eating about 4,000 calories to put on the mass and it all kind of went to my legs, which was great because all I was working on was my legs.

“But I just tried my best to match Chun-Li’s physique as much as I could. Just a lot of weight training that I’ve never done before.

“Stunt training was also very fun. Kicking all the time, therapeutic.”

She added that her two co-stars became “ripped” following their efforts.

Centineo said: “A big part of the film is the fighting; a lot of it is practical. So they wanted us to be able to step in and actually do as much of it as possible.

“We were walking kind of a tightrope, but fortunately we had an incredible stunt team.

“Jon Valera, our stunt co-ordinator and second unit director, studied every character meticulously. His entire team. They knew the fighting styles, every character, the signature moves

“We were all there together training for six weeks. So whatever prep we did, we were all then able to show up together before we said action for six weeks. You know, it’s just gymming. We gymed every day for 12 weeks.”

Koji added: “We had to try and get as big as possible while maintaining functional movement, because in the video games they’re built like bodybuilders.”

The film also features a series of cameos from stars including Eric Andre, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Jason Momoa and Orville Peck.

Centineo added: “The ensemble of Street Fighter is so colourful and so vibrant and just honestly so bats*** crazy because their real-life personalities are bigger than life, and they come in and they play these characters that are equally bigger than life.

“Every day it was like a circus. It was so fun in the best way. We had a hell of a time making the movie.”