Almost three years ago, director and Hollywood stuntman Joey Ansah released a Street Fighter shortfilm on YouTube as proof that he could nail the concept. Now, Ansah is back and looking for fan support to fund a full series based on the classic fighting games.
Ansah first announced the series, known as Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, alongside Capcom at the San Diego Comic-Con last year. Capcom gave its full blessing to the project, but it isn’t providing any financial support because it doesn’t want to get involved in the business of producing film.
Ansah has raised some of the required funds, but he is asking for an additional $900,000 on Kickstarter to fully finance the project.
“If we secure the production budget we need, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist is going to be the definitive live-action Street Fighter experience that you have deserved and been waiting for since the games’ inception 25 years ago,” Ansah wrote on the Kickstarter page.
Despite the lack of a full budget, the writers continued to work and refine the screenplay for Assassin’s Fist. Ansah claims that has helped them build a layered world with deep mythology.
“This story really contains all the elements of universal, classic, conflict based story telling,” wrote Ansah. “Father versus son, brother versus brother, a love triangle, betrayal, revenge, and the ultimate question: ‘Can a man change his destiny? Or will the inevitable catch up with him?”
Production begins soon with a planned release set for this winter. No word on the involvement of Jean-Claude Van Damme.