Street Fighter Box Office: Second Weekend Drops 72% for Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes Movie
Street Fighter's second weekend at the box office was a tough one. The live-action movie, with Roman Reigns as Akuma and Cody Rhodes as Guile, made $8.6 million in the United States and Canada from October 23 to 25, a drop of 72 percent from its opening weekend.
After opening at No. 1, it slipped to No. 4. Here are the numbers so far and what they mean.
Street Fighter box office so far
- Opening weekend (October 16 to 18): $31 million in the U.S. and Canada, No. 1
- Second weekend (October 23 to 25): $8.6 million, down 72 percent, No. 4
- U.S. and Canada total after 10 days: $46.9 million
- Worldwide total: about $80 million
- Reported budget: $82 million, before marketing
The figures come from the weekend box office report by Rotten Tomatoes, which expects the film to finish with $60 million to $65 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Why the big drop?
A 72 percent fall is steep even for a fan-driven movie. Films based on games and comics often do a lot of their business on opening weekend, when the most excited fans show up, and then fall hard. Three things worked against Street Fighter here:
- Mixed reviews: critics were lukewarm from the start, so the film did not get much word of mouth beyond its core audience.
- New competition: Clayface opened at No. 1 this weekend, and the documentary You Can See Everything expanded into more theaters.
- A big opening for its kind: the $31 million start was the best ever for a Street Fighter movie, which made the second-weekend fall look even bigger.
The budget is the real concern. At around $80 million worldwide so far, it still has a long way to go to make its money back in theaters, so its overseas run and later streaming release will matter a lot.
What it means for Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes
For the two WWE stars, the box office is not the story that matters most. Neither one was the lead, and the reviews that did single out a performer were kind to Rhodes, with more than one critic saying he stole his scenes as Guile.
The movie already did its job for WWE by putting its two biggest names in front of a wider audience. Reigns was the most googled WWE Superstar in the world in the week of the release, and both men are back at work in WWE right away: Reigns faces Sami Zayn and Rhodes faces Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at Crown Jewel on November 7.
For the cast, the release date, the critics' reaction and more on their roles, read our full guide to the Street Fighter movie. And for the full story behind Rhodes vs. Orton, see our rivalry history.
