On October 16, the highly anticipated Street Fighter, directed by Kitao Sakurai, will finally hit theatres. The film will also mark Vidyut Jammwal’s official Hollywood debut, with the actor stepping into the avatar of the mystical, limb-stretching yogi, Dhalsim.

The year 2026, specifically, has been monumental for video game adaptations, considering the number of iconic characters making the leap from our consoles to the big screen. These include Christophe Gans’ Return to Silent Hill, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Mortal Kombat II and Devil May Cry Season 2. Oh, but there’s more.

Not only did these popular franchises have their moments, but they also helped pave the way for independent games to reach a much wider audience. Popular YouTuber Markiplier took up a passion project, working closely with the developer of the game Iron Lung to bring it to the big screen.

There were even more, including the Japanese subway station walking simulator Exit 8 and, in some sense, Backrooms as well. While the concept originally emerged from a YouTube video, it eventually became a video game before being adapted for a theatrical release.

Now, we turn back the clock and look at some popular video game franchises that received movie adaptations.

Street Fighter

Street Fighter stands as one of the oldest video game franchises on the list. Dating back to its debut in 1987, the only way to access the popular fighting game was through an arcade machine. Despite its bizarre concepts, supernatural elements and various fighting abilities, the core narrative remained grounded in the global martial arts tournament and the individual journeys of its characters.

Back in 1994, action star Jean-Claude Van Damme brought the franchise to life on the big screen as Colonel Guile. While some inaccuracies in terms of the characters’ looks and the overall treatment of the material were noticeable, the film remains an early attempt at translating the popular fighting game into a Hollywood feature.

Cut forward to 2026, and we will see a more video-game-accurate version, with a star-studded cast including Vidyut Jammwal, Jason Momoa, Callina Liang, 50 Cent, Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, among many other notable names. The movie is set to deliver one of the biggest fighting-game experiences on the big screen.

When you think Resident Evil, you think Leon S. Kennedy – at least when it comes to the video games. When you think of the Resident Evil movies, however, the person who immediately comes to mind is Milla Jovovich. Responsible for keeping an entire generation of fans hooked, she became the epitome of badassery in a world ridden with zombies.

The games have always been about finding ways to fend off the threat, and while the movies introduced some additional characters of their own, the core spirit of the concept remained intact.

Mario established itself as one of the defining characters of gaming through a straightforward premise: a hero sets out to rescue a princess in distress. In this case, the hero is a small-town Italian plumber named Mario.

In the classic games, players strap on the boots of Mario and Luigi, navigating looming threats in a 2D side-scrolling platformer, collecting coins, overcoming obstacles and facing off against enemies to rescue the princess.

Mario has received multiple movie adaptations over the years, beginning with the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. and followed decades later by the animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The latter became a major global success, driven by vibrant animation, nostalgia and the enduring popularity of the characters.

Tomb Raider is one of the most recognisable PlayStation-associated gaming franchises. While PlayStation may be making news lately for all the wrong reasons, there is no denying the treats it has served fans over the past few decades. Several of its major IPs have received adaptations over the years, including Uncharted and The Last of Us, with God of War also in development for television.

But of them all, Tomb Raider remains one of the most popular cult franchises, with Angelina Jolie taking the helm as archaeologist Lara Croft. What makes the franchise exciting is the constant anticipation of danger, coupled with the reassuring feeling that Lara will somehow find a way through it all.

Our favourite speedster hedgehog, Sonic, lit up our childhoods with his charismatic charm, sarcastic humour and laid-back attitude, even in the face of danger. Sonic never knew when to stop running, eventually breaking through the fourth wall and landing on the big screen in a live-action-animation blend.

The original character design for the movie received massive outrage from fans for its less-than-accurate interpretation of Sonic. Fortunately, the backlash was heard by Paramount Pictures, and the character was redesigned before the film’s release. The rest is history.

The adaptation went on to become a major success, with the fourth installment set to release in 2027.

Angry Birds was a sleeper hit that transformed Rovio Entertainment’s fortunes and turned the franchise into a global phenomenon. The simple concept of using a slingshot to launch birds, each equipped with different abilities, at greedy pigs who had stolen their eggs was a refreshing narrative. Simple yet addictive.

Back in the day, almost every handheld device seemed to have either Temple Run or Angry Birds to help users kill some spare time. The film adaptations, on the other hand, expanded the world of the game while retaining its core premise.

The animated adaptations turned out to be major commercial successes, with the two films collectively earning more than $500 million worldwide.

Pokémon can easily be considered one of the most popular anime and video game franchises in the world. The franchise follows various Pokémon Trainers as they set out to catch, train and battle with Pokémon.

Pokémon eventually received its first live-action feature film with Pokémon Detective Pikachu, based on the 2016 video game of the same name. In this refreshing variation, we get to see the ever-so-lovable Pikachu in the avatar of a detective. And what better person to bring his sarcastic nature to life than Ryan Reynolds?

The Prince of Persia games have always been known for their acrobatic movements, swordplay and puzzle-solving, all clubbed into one narrative-heavy adventure. The Hollywood adaptation brought these elements to the big screen, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing the titular prince.