Legendary Pictures and Capcom are currently pulling together all of the raw materials needed to make yet another live-action Street Fighter flick, and it would seem a fresh piece of casting has now been locked down following the news that Chun-Li's role has been filled.
Rapper and actor Curtis James Jackson III, better known as 50 Cent, appears to have confirmed that he's playing the Mike Tyson-like boxer Balrog (M. Bison in Japan) in the upcoming flick, reports IGN.
This follows a news report from Nexus Point News, a story 50 Cent himself chose to promote, along with the message: "No Days off, Let’s work all roads lead to Shreveport 💣Boom💨".
Balrog was one of the four boss characters in the first iteration of Street Fighter II, and has reappeared in several subsequent games since then.
In the much-maligned 1994 live-action movie, the character was played by Grand L. Bush. In that particular story, Balrog fights on behalf of Jean-Claude Van Damme / Colonel William F. Guile's good guys, but traditionally, the character is one of M. Bison's feared Shadaloo generals. It remains to be seen how this upcoming film will frame the disgraced pugilist.
If this news proves true, 50 Cent will star alongside Callina Liang, Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, and Orville Peck. The movie is scheduled to be released on March 20, 2026, and has already experienced its fair share of issues; original directors Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me, Bring Her Back) left the project last year, with Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip) hired to replace them.
This venture is the latest in a line of attempts to transpose Capcom's famous fighting game series to the silver screen; as well as the aforementioned 1994 effort (which still earns Capcom money to this very day), we've had Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) and Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (2014), as well as animated adaptations from Japan.
50 Cent has sold in excess of 30 million albums worldwide and has a Grammy, Primetime Emmy and thirteen Billboard Music Awards to his name. His acting credits are extensive; since 2005's Get Rich or Die Tryin', he has starred in multiple movies and television shows, including Escape Plan (2013), Spy (2015), Den of Thieves (2018), Expend4bles (2023) and Power (2014).
He also famously starred in the video games 50 Cent: Bulletproof (2005) and 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (2009), as well as 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Ironically, given that the character of Balrog was initially based on Mike Tyson, 50 Cent used to own Tyson's former Connecticut mansion.