Before writing and directing “Street Fighter,” Steven E. de Souza had built up an impressive CV for himself as a screenwriter by penning now-legendary action films. From “Die Hard” to “Commando,” de Souza was the brains behind many fan-favorite films throughout the ’80s and ’90s.
Speaking to Bristol Bad Film Club, de Souza revealed how producer Edward R. Pressman contacted him about a potential pitch for Capcom, as the video game giant wanted someone to produce a “Street Fighter” film. While de Souza didn’t have much time to think about it — less than a day, to be exact — he received supplementary materials from Capcom, demonstrating several James Bond-esque elements it envisioned for the movie. Additionally, de Souza had access to plans for an upcoming toyline, which he noted were similar to “G.I. Joe.”
Street Fighter and the concept of the seven dwarves
In 1994, the average blockbuster hovered around the 90- to 100-minute mark. It was a time when films were far more compact, as the stories needed to be lean and get to the point far quicker than nowadays. As a result, Steven E. de Souza knew he would need to carefully select which “Street Fighter” characters were featured in the movie, since it would be impossible to include everyone from the video game series — or would it? As de Souza revealed to Polygon, he received pressure from Capcom to find space for all the characters from the game. It isn’t too difficult to figure out why, as more characters translates to more merch and action figures.RELATED:
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In an effort to explain how this would damage the movie’s storyline, de Souza asked the executives to name all the seven dwarves from “Snow White,” and they struggled.
“There’s a reason there’s seven dwarves,” he said. “There’s a reason there’s seven wonders of the world. There’s a reason it’s the ‘Magnificent Seven,’ which is a remake of the Japanese movie ‘The Seven Samurai.’ Seven is the number of characters an audience can keep in its head at any time.” His rationale convinced Capcom at first; however, as time passed, the video game company kept asking him to add more and more characters.
Why Jean- Claude Van Damme was cast as Guile in Street Fighter
In the video games, Guile is an all-American soldier with the greatest flattop hairstyle next to Will Smith’s slick look in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Speaking to “A Trip to the Movies with Alex Zane,” Steven E. de Souza discussed the specific reason for Van Damme’s casting. “[Capcom] wanted a big action star,” he said. “Originally, they said, ‘Can you get Stallone? Can you get Schwarzenegger?’ And we just said, ‘You can’t afford them.’ They had a budget of $30 million — we ended up going a little bit over; [we] couldn’t afford those guys. So by process of elimination, they finally said, ‘What about Jean-Claude Van Damme?'” The filmmaker thought they could make that casting work, especially since Van Damme wouldn’t need to be present for the entire shoot.
Capcom’s original choice for Ryu
Arguably, Ryu is the most important character in the entire “Street Fighter” franchise. He is the focal point of the main narrative arc and one of the most iconic characters in video game history — full stop. While Ryu plays more of a supporting role in the movie, making way for Guile to be the star, it was still an important part to cast and get the right actor attached to. In the end, Byron Mann was cast in the role, but Capcom wanted a different actor as Ryu. The video game company wanted actor Kenya Sawada as Ryu; however, de Souza remained resolute and stuck with Mann. As something of a consolation prize, Sawada received a cameo as a newly created character named Captain Sawada.
The secret trick of Sagat’s eye patch
Securing Wes Studi as Sagat in “Street Fighter” was quite the coup at the time. Regardless of any of the negative noise surrounding the film, Studi confirmed he enjoyed himself on “Street Fighter,” though there was a major challenge he had to overcome. In a career-spanning interview with The A.V. Club, the actor explained how he struggled with his balance and coordination due to Sagat having an eye patch, so a crew member got inventive and helped him out. “Initially what we did was drill a very tiny hole in the eye patch, so that my covered eye could see a little bit of something,” Studi said. “So that’s what kept me from staggering.”
Raul Julia was the consummate professional
The “Street Fighter” movie may be considered the Jean-Claude Van Damme gun show, but the true star of the picture is Raul Julia, who accepted the role of M. Bison because his children were fans of the video game. The veteran actor committed to the hammy, camp nature of his part and gave it his all, delivering a performance that stood out even when people didn’t exactly like the film. The actor was posthumously nominated for a Saturn Award for his performance. In interviews, de Souza said he thought Julia was a totalRELATED:
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professional who embodied his classically trained theater experience in the role of dictator M. Bison.
Julia had undergone surgery before the film, causing him to lose a lot of weight before shooting commenced. According to the director, Julia said he was declared healthy enough to continue with the production, so the film crew pushed out his scenes by a few weeks to allow him to gain weight and work out with the trainer. Julia passed away a month after “Street Fighter” wrapped.
Ming-Na Wen didn’t want to do action again after Street Fighter
Ming-Na Wen is best recognized for her roles as Fennec Shand in the “Star Wars” universe and Melinda May in “Agents of SHIELD.” However, Wen cut her teeth as an action star in 1994’s “Street Fighter,” where she starred as the iconic character Chun-Li. Her portrayal earned her good reviews, though many audiences probably remember her more for her Marvel and “Star Wars” TV series. In the 1990s, though, the punishing requirements of “Street Fighter” almost put her off action productions altogether. Speaking to IGN, she said, “I remember that it was an incredibly intense schedule of working out, and training, and many, many tough, hard days fighting. And I remember saying to myself, ‘I will never want to do another action project again.'”
Jean Claude Van Damme was extremely difficult to work with
By the time Street Fighter came out, Jean-Claude Van Damme was already a major Hollywood superstar. He had already made his way into the action movie hall of fame with films like Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Universal Soldier. Van Damme arrived on set as the main star of Street Fighter, but the director and crew ended up having to cope with him because of substances. “I couldn’t talk about it then, but I can now: Jean-Claude was crazy,” Steven E. de Souza told The Guardian. “The studio hired a wrangler to take care of him, but unfortunately the wrangler himself became a bad influence.” De Souza also revealed that Van Damme went to Hong Kong twice during filming and returned much later than scheduled. Roshan Seth, who played Dhalsim in “Street Fighter,” recalled times when JCVD didn’t show up because he needed to “flex [his] muscles.”
Despite the drama, Byron Mann felt like the shoot was a vacation
“Street Fighter” seemed to experience the worst kind of luck coupled with a highly pressurized environment, as Byron Mann discussed with Movie Mavericks. “It was a very tumultuous shoot,” he said. The actor explained how the troubled production took place for two months in Thailand and two months in Australia. There was a large group of people working on the film, and the sets were equally as massive as well, he said, so “Street Fighter” naturally had a lot of moving components to manage and control. Despite all of the setbacks and more drama than “Days of Our Lives,” Mann affirmed he had a great time. “It was a very stressful situation, but for me it felt like I was on a big vacation, I was just happy to be on set,” he said. “To this day people recognize me from ‘Street Fighter.'”
The cast suffered in the heat of Thailand
Healthy chunk of the movie was filmed in Thailand, which holds many scenic and exotic landmarks. While Thailand is beautiful to behold, it also boasts high temperatures and different cuisines — something that impacted the actors while they were there. Speaking to Polygon, Byron Mann said, “In Thailand, no one knew it would be that hot and humid. We were malnourished and not accustomed to the food. Everyone lost weight.” The shoot in Thailand wasn’t easy, and it was further impacted by a Bangkok power station giving out because it couldn’t support the sheer scale of this blockbuster. Eventually, the production headed out to Australia for the rest of the shoot.RELATED:
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Jean-Claude Van Damme admitted to having an affair with Kylie Minogue during the production
It had long been rumored that Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue had an affair during the production of the film. However, as is the case with most celebrity rumors, the average person probably brushed it off as a 50/50 chance of being true. In the end, Van Damme was the one who copped to it.“It would be abnormal not to have had an affair, she’s so beautiful and she was there in front of me every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming, she wasn’t acting like a big star,” he told The Guardian. “I knew Thailand very well, so I showed her my Thailand.”
