Street Fighter opens at number one at the North American box office

Street Fighter took first place at the North American box office over its opening weekend of 16 to 18 October. According to Rentrak estimates reported by Xinhua, Kitao Sakurai's film earned about $31 million in the US and Canada and a further $20.1 million across 65 markets, for $51.1 million worldwide. In France, where it opened on 14 October, two days ahead of the US, no admissions figures have been published yet.

It finished well ahead of You Can See Everything, A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, second with $15 million, and the horror film Other Mommy, third with $8.35 million in its second weekend. It opened in 3,575 North American theatres.

A decent start, not a smash

Pre-release projections pointed to a global debut of around $70 million, and BoxOfficePro's domestic forecasts ranged from $25 million to $40 million, so the result sits at the lower end. The production budget is put at $82 million before marketing. In three days it nearly matched the entire domestic total of the 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme version ($33.4 million) and far outran Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li ($12.7 million in 2009).

Mortal Kombat II is a cautionary comparison: it opened bigger in the US ($38.5 million) and stalled at $79.8 million domestically. Films like these often lose much of their audience by the second weekend.

Split reviews

Reviews are mixed: 41% positive from 100 critics on Rotten Tomatoes at opening, and a B- CinemaScore from audiences. Sakurai's comic tone divides opinion, while the fights and the real athletes in the cast draw more praise.

The cast leans on fighters and wrestlers: UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski plays Joe, Cody Rhodes is Guile and Joe Anoa'i, better known as Roman Reigns, is Akuma. Andrew Koji plays Ryu opposite Noah Centineo's Ken. The French dub features three French MMA fighters: Benoît Saint-Denis voices Zangief, Cédric Doumbè voices Balrog and Paul Dena voices Joe.

The ending leaves room for a sequel, and cast members have talked up a Mortal Kombat crossover, with nothing official yet. The second weekend, 23 to 25 October, will show whether the film can head towards the $200 million worldwide mark needed to call it a hit.