‘Street Fighter’ Nearly Brought Back a Fan-Favorite Star After 32 Years

The classic video game franchise Street Fighter is back in theaters, with a new live-action adaptation that's already grossed $57.3 million USD. It's not the first time the franchise has made it into the realm of live-action; it first hit the big screen in 1994, with a much-derided adaptation that's become something of a cult classic. And while the new movie may not want to emulate its predecessor too closely, it almost had a cameo from one of that movie's stars.

The movie does feature an homage to the 1994 film; while battling Chun-Li (Callina Liang), the villainous M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) paraphrases one of his 1994 counterpart's most iconic lines, as originally delivered by Raul Julia in one of his last performances: "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was a Tuesday." There are, however, no winking cameos from the original cast members, as is often seen in franchise films; for instance, Dolph Lundgren dropped into Masters of the Universe earlier this summer, 39 years after becoming the big screen's first He-Man.

One cast member almost did make it in: Kylie Minogue. The Australian pop star played Cammy in the original film, and the producers of the new film were interested in having her cameo. They were having difficulty contacting her, but masked singer Orville Peck, who plays Vega in the new film, is a friend of Minogue's. As revealed in a recent interview with Queerty, Peck told them, "Guys, I can text her." Unfortunately, Minogue didn't end up pulling her red beret out of the closet; while she was willing, she couldn't make it work with her schedule. She did tell him that making the original movie "was one of the most fun experiences of her life," and he's still trying to get co-star Mel Jarnson into a meeting of the Cammies.

What Is 1994's 'Street Fighter' About?

While the new film has the same fighting tournament structure of the video games, the 1994 Street Fighter, which was written and directed by Die Hard scribe Steven E. de Souza, takes a more conventional action film structure. Drug lord M. Bison (Julia), ruler of the breakaway nation Shadaloo, has taken several Allied Nations relief workers hostage and is demanding a massive ransom. An AN task force led by Colonel William Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme) swoops in to intervene, with the help of martial arts con men Ken (Damian Chapa) and Ryu (Byron Mann). Meanwhile, reporter Chun-Li (Ming-Na Wen) is trying to get her own vengeance on Bison.