Skydance/Paramount's 'Street Fighter' Eyes $70M Global Opening as Post-Merger Debut Leads Weekend Slate

Studio debut and preview performance

Paramount/Legendary's "Street Fighter," directed by Kitao Sakurai, generated about $4 million from Thursday night previews and is projecting a domestic opening weekend north of $30 million with a global opening around $70 million through Oct. 18, according to projections cited by BoxOfficeReport.com. The film carries a reported $82 million budget co-financed by Legendary and "Street Fighter" publisher Capcom. Estimates differ slightly between outlets: Media Play News cited a $32 million domestic projection, while The Wrap put the domestic opening "north of $30 million," with both pointing to the same roughly $70 million global weekend figure.

The film is the first theatrical release under Skydance's corporate banner following its merger with Paramount. The ensemble cast includes Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Andrew Schulz, Eric André, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Jason Momoa.

Critical and audience reception

Critical reviews for "Street Fighter" have been mixed, while early audience response has been more favorable. The film holds a 46% critics score and an 82% early audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, according to The Wrap. Analyst Daniel Garris, writing for BoxOfficeReport.com, said the film is "likely to be mostly critic-proof … thanks in part to the fans of the video game series". The film's core challenge, as The Wrap framed it, mirrors the path of "Mortal Kombat II" earlier this year: raising interest beyond its core fanbase to avoid a frontloaded theatrical run.

Documentary draws a strong per-location preview

A24's "You Can See Everything," a near-three-hour documentary directed by Lance Oppenheim alongside Nathan Fielder about jailed Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, earned $1.7 million in Thursday previews from just 855 locations. That preview total compares with the $900,000 from 3,065 locations recorded by Disney/20th Century Studios' "Whalefall" and exceeds per-location averages typically seen for wide releases. Media Play News projected the documentary to $9 million for the weekend; The Wrap said it is pacing to an opening of at least $8 million, which would top the $7.1 million debut of Amazon MGM's "Melania" documentary. A $9 million weekend would mark the highest documentary opening since 2013's "One Direction: This Is Us," which opened to $15.8 million. The film carries a 100% critics and 98% early Rotten Tomatoes score.

The documentary was made in secret and announced two months ahead of its surprise premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

Wider weekend slate and holdovers

Five new releases hit theaters alongside "Street Fighter" and "You Can See Everything." Disney/20th Century Studios' survival actioner "Whalefall" was tracking to about $8.5 million; Focus Features' period romance "Sense and Sensibility" was projected at $5.4 million; and Sloka Entertainment's Indian-language "Jailer 2" was projected at $1.9 million.

Returning titles were led by the prior weekend's No. 1, Universal's "Other Mommy," projected at $8.8 million, followed by Amazon MGM Studios' "Verity" in its third weekend at $5.8 million and Sony Pictures' "Resident Evil" in its fifth weekend at $5.7 million. Other holdovers included Paramount's "Heart of the Beast" (fourth weekend, $4.6 million projected), Universal/DreamWorks Animation's "Forgotten Island" (fourth weekend, $2.6 million) and Sony's "The Social Reckoning" (second weekend, $2 million).