Street Fighter has a patchy history on the big screen, to say the least, but the latest adaptation is doing things a little differently, according to director Kitao Sakurai.

If the irreverent Street Fighter trailer and the movie’s wild casting choices are any indication, it’s a film that isn’t taking itself too seriously, and that’s by design. “Everybody wanted to get behind creating a movie that had a very distinct tone and approach, that didn’t feel like an off-the-shelf video-game movie,” Sakurai told Empire Magazine. “I was brought on to make something that didn’t feel conventional, and they really let me do my thing.”

Sakurai himself is an unconventional choice. The director cut his teeth on comedies like The Eric Andre Show, with little to suggest he’d be the right person to bring the larger-than-life World Warrior Tournament to the screen. But according to the director, who also co-wrote the film’s screenplay, that off-kilter perspective is what makes Street Fighter stand out from an increasingly crowded field.

“I also really wanted to honour that feeling I had when I was six years old with my best friend, trying to make our [home-movie] version of a Jet Li movie,” Sakuri said. “To just have that sense of fun and irreverence, and not worrying what other people think. To hopefully balance nostalgia with something that feels fresh.”

There’s not long to go till we find out whether Sakurai and co. have hit the mark. Recently, we got a taste of the action with a special look at the fight between Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Blanka (Jason Momoa). With hadoukens and electric shocks aplenty, it certainly looks like a more reverential adaptation than the notorious, Van Damme-starring ’94 movie (and the less said about 2009’s Kristin Kreuk-led The Legend of Chun-Li, the better).

Street Fighter is set to top off the biggest year yet for video game adaptations. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Mortal Kombat 2, and Exit 8 have so far been released in 2026, while Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie is still to come. And next year is set to be even bigger, with A Minecraft Movie 2 and the long-awaited live-action The Legend of Zelda movie among the many video games adaps hitting screens.

Street Fighter releases in theaters on October 16. For more, check out our list of upcoming video game movies and our ranking of the best video game movies