Legendary Footage has signed a brand new distribution take care of Paramount Footage, bringing their upcoming Avenue Fighter reboot with them and planning to face off in opposition to Mortal Kombat II on the field workplace. Legendary has been creating a Avenue Fighter movie since 2023, which was initially set to be launched by Columbia Footage in March 2026 earlier than the studio took it off the schedule. With filming underway, many have been questioning who would decide up distribution and when the film could be launched.
In response to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary has signed a three-year take care of Paramount, and underneath the phrases of that deal, Paramount has dated Avenue Fighter for an October 16, 2026 launch date. The movie, directed by Kitao Sakurai, is ready in 1993, the identical 12 months Avenue Fighter II was launched. The synopsis reads:
“Estranged Avenue Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown again into fight when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the subsequent World Warrior Event: a brutal conflict of fists, destiny, and fury. However behind this battle royale lies a lethal conspiracy that forces them to face off in opposition to one another and the demons of their previous. And in the event that they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!”
‘Avenue Fighter’ vs. ‘Mortal Kombat II’: Let Them Battle!
What’s fascinating about Avenue Fighter‘s launch date is that it comes virtually precisely 5 months after Mortal Kombat II, which Warner Bros. not too long ago delayed to Might 15, 2026. Within the Nineties, Mortal Kombat and Avenue Fighter dominated the preventing sport scene, competing fiercely for followers. Now the rivalry is continuous into the 2026 field workplace, the place it will be a check to see which preventing game-turned-film emerges victorious.
Avenue Fighter marks the third main online game franchise for which Paramount Footage has acquired the movie rights. They’ve the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, which have turn into one of many studio’s greatest IPs, with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 set for a 2027 launch. Paramount additionally not too long ago introduced they’re creating a Name of Obligation film. Now with Avenue Fighter becoming a member of their slate, Paramount might be seen because the video-game franchise studio.
Following the acquisition of Paramount Footage by Skydance Media, this new take care of Legendary is a major transfer that might be used to revitalize a number of the studio’s key dormant franchises, like Star Trek, Transformers, and G.I. Joe. That is the third main studio with which Legendary has made a deal for the reason that 2020s. From 2018 to 2021, that they had a distribution take care of Warner Bros. Nevertheless, following Warner Bros.’ choice to launch all of their 2021 movies concurrently on streaming platforms and in theaters, which included Legendary’s Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong, they struck a take care of Sony. (Legendary nonetheless works with Warner Bros. on Dune and MonsterVerse titles.) The Sony deal was short-lived, as following the field workplace disappointments of The Machine and The Lifetime of Clarence, they started searching for new companions, which culminated within the take care of Paramount, kicking off with Avenue Fighter.
Josh Greenstein, co-chair of Paramount Footage and vice chair of platforms, and Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Footage and Chair of Paramount Tv, mentioned in an announcement concerning the brand new deal:
“Legendary has constructed a status for formidable, globally interesting movies, and we’re excited to be partnering with them. Avenue Fighter is the proper begin to our collaboration, which we imagine will likely be sturdy and lasting.”
Legendary CEO Josh Grode added:
“Partnering with David, Dana and Josh and their groups at Paramount marks an thrilling new chapter for Legendary as we proceed to pursue a diversified development technique—increasing our output, constructing new franchises, and creating extra movies for international audiences. This partnership is a rare alternative, and we stay up for working carefully with Paramount on tales that may captivate and encourage moviegoers worldwide.”