Not pleased with the many gawd-awful Hollywood adaptations of video games, Joey Ansah, an actor/filmmaker and huge fan of the Street Fighter video game series has put together a short film adaptation of his own with
Street Fighter: Legacy. You may have seen Joey before in
The Bourne Ultimatum as "Desh", a Blackbriar assassin who goes up against Matt Damon in Morocco. Here's a statement on his intention and the people involved in the production:
As an actor, filmmaker and fan, I have been disappointed by the many diluted, unfaithful and outright butchered movie adaptations of fighting video games. It was clear to me, that given the way the movie industry worked, we would never see a super faithful, darker toned and more adult themed (or just plain good!) incarnation of Street Fighter unless a die-hard director or filmmaking team with game canon knowledge stepped up to the plate to helm such a project.
So almost a year ago, I began writing script treatments (with my writing collaborator and great friend Christian Howard, who also plays Ken) and a production design brief and partnered with Streetlight films before proposing my concept and vision to Capcom. I'm pleased to say they gave their blessing and permission for the project to move forward.
My team subsequently attracted a great ensemble to support and execute the project including Owen Trevor (Top gear director) who co-directed the film with me, Jacqueline Quella my Producer, Anthony Waye as my exec producer who has senior production credits on over 90 movies including the last eleven 'James Bond' films (Line-producer of the entire Bond movie franchise), and the renowned post production/VFX house, Prime Focus, to name but a few.
We've all strived to make a beautiful film that hopefully non fans will really appreciate, but ultimately this is a love letter to the fans and the brilliance of the game. As a result, I've gone to every length to be as faithful as possible down to the smallest details of the costume, the choreography, the narrative, the original music themes and, of course, the special moves!
After almost a year of blood, sweat, lots of favors, enthusiasm and love, we are ready to release 'StreetFighter: Legacy' to the people who deserve it most.......the fans.
Enjoy the two teaser trailers, and look out for the short film to be online on Thursday along with a series of making of featurettes.
Joey Ansah
Its worth mentioning that martial arts actor Jon Foo who plays Ryu in the short also plays Jin Kazama in
Tekken,
another fighting video game adaptation. What you'll find embedded below is two teaser trailers and
a behind-the-scenes video of Joey's fight scene in Bourne Ultimatum.
Stay tuned for more update.