For a long, long time, video game movies had a rough reputation. In fact, it wasn’t until the 2018 remake of Tomb Raider that a live-action adaptation of a game earned more than a 50 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from professional reviewers. That being said, the tide now does seem to be turning, with films earning more critical acclaim and having tremendous success at the box office, and the directors of the upcoming Street Fighter remake attribute those wins to projects being made by filmmakers who have real passion for the material they are adapting.
I caught up with twin Australian directors Danny and Michael Philippou on a press line earlier today at San Diego Comic-Con, where they were promoting their fantastic new horror film Talk To Me, and they briefly discussed their developing Street Fighter feature and the current state of video game movies in general. I asked the siblings about what changes they’ve seen since the early 1990s (when the original live-action Street Fighter was made), and Danny Philippou gave full credit to the filmmakers who are making the adaptations these days:
I think that people are taking the source material a lot more seriously, and people are actually giving justice to the games, which is amazing to see. I think that is the big thing, is that they really tapped into people that love the source material.
Putting it more succinctly and practically acting as a cheering section for his brother’s comments, Michael Philippou added,
Yeah! The fans making the games! Fans making the games, y’all!
Since the aforementioned Tomb Raider remake, the reputation of video game movies has been improving. Films like Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Sonic The Hedgehog, Werewolves Within, and Sonic The Hedgehog 2 have earned legitimate “Fresh” ratings from critics according to Rotten Tomatoes, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the biggest blockbuster of the year, having made $1.3 billion worldwide. Needless to say, the Philippou brothers are entering the arena at the best possible time, and they made their personal enthusiasm quite clear.
Danny and Michael Philippou are best known for their YouTube channel RackaRacka, which was launched in 2013 and has 6.74 million subscribers, and they’ve been developing their feature debut Talk To Me since 2018. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and both impressed and scared the hell out of attendees/critics. In April, it was reported that they were attached to make a new Street Fighter blockbuster with Legendary Entertainment, and the news was confirmed on the RackaRacka Instagram page:
The original Street Fighter, which premiered in 1994 and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, and Ming-Na Wen, is (to put it politely) not widely regarded as peak cinema – though Danny Philippou took a mostly neutral stance when asked for his assessment. He was instead more interested in lauding Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, which was actually released prior to the live-action film in 1994 and is an adaptation of the titular sequel game instead of being a sequel itself. Said Philippou,
I think it was fun. They were fun and especially the second animated film, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, slaps. It slaps.
Danny and Michael Philippou’s Street Fighter is surely paused in development amid the on-going SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, but anyone curious about their skills as feature filmmakers will soon have the opportunity to learn what they bring to the table. Talk To Me, starring Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Zoe Terakes, and Miranda Otto, arrives in theaters everywhere on July 28, and given that it’s the best horror movie of 2023 thus far, you really should give it a look. And for all things related to video game adaptations in the works, check out our Upcoming Video Game Movies And TV guide.