"Round two of Hollywood's struggle with Capcom's Street Fighter series is about to begin, Variety yesterday reported that producers have cast a diverse group of recognizable faces to appear in front of the camera.
The trade paper reports that the film's leading lady role of Chun Li has gone to Kristen Kreuk (Smallville, EuroTrip, pictured at right), with Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile, Daredevil) lacing up the boots as fearless fighter Balrog. A pair of brawlers from the Street Fighter Alpha series of games has also been cast, as Chris Klein (American Pie, Rollerball) will play Guile's doomed friend Nash, while Rick Yune (The Fast and the Furious, Alone in the Dark II) portrays the mystical elderly fighter Gen.
Variety also reported on a handful of other actors signed on to the project for unspecified roles. Those include Shaw Bros. legend Chang Pei Pei (Come Drink With Me, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, pictured below), Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman, Pathfinder), Edmund Chen (Turn Left, Turn Right, the original Hong Kong version of The Eye), and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo.
Reining in the disparate cast members and characters to tell a cohesive story will be the responsibility of previously known director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave). According to the report, the antagonist role of M. Bison has not yet been cast. Filming will begin next month and take place in Vancouver, Hong Kong, and Bangkok."