Legendary Entertainment announced that work on a live-action Street Fighter series was underway in 2023, after they acquired both the film and TV rights to the franchise. Since then, they've kept plot details pretty under wraps, but they have been slowly announcing the cast. Jason Momoa (Blanka), Noah Centineo (Ken), and Orville Peck (Vega) are among the members of the main cast. WWE wrestler Roman Reigns (real name Joe Anoa'i) signed on to play Akuma, while Andrew Koji and Callina Liang will be playing Ryu and Chun-Li, respectively. Now, we know the name of another cast member: 50 Cent.
As first detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, 50 Cent will play the role of Balrog. Balrog first appeared in Street Fighter II as a disgraced boxer who works for Vega's criminal organization. The character is based on Mike Tyson, and was originally named "Mike Bison" before the developers decided against it because of potential legal issues.
Per the report, 50 is deep into his training for the film and will be doing his own stunts.
50 Cent Street Fighter
50 Cent is no acting rookie. He played Kanan on his own hit series, Starz's Power. That show was more of a drama than anything else. Street Fighter is going to be the lightest thing (tone-wise) that 50's ever acted in.
50 is, infamously, a bit of a troll. His sense of humor's gotten him in trouble over the years, and many fans looked to him for jokes about Diddy's trial, especially after he got mentioned in the proceedings. It will be interesting to see how 50 Cent's acting instincts translates to the big screen, especially for a franchise as legendary as Street Fighter. Legendary Entertainment has not given an official release date for the film. However, according to THR's report, production begins in Australia in August. Director Kitao Sakuri will helm the project.
