50 Cent Says Street Fighter Is His Movie; Reveals Intense Boxing Regimen

50 Cent didn’t just show up to play Balrog in the upcoming Street Fighter film.

He committed to a training regimen that pushed his body to limits he hadn’t tested since childhood, preparing for a role that demanded serious physical transformation.

The film, directed by Kitao Sakurai and produced by Legendary Entertainment, hits theaters October 16, 2026, on Paramount Pictures, and 50 Cent’s preparation reflects the intensity the production brought to adapting the iconic video game franchise.

“Balrog was bigger than me in my mind, so I’m like, I got to train,” 50 Cent explained. “Fortunately for me, I started training early. I was able to get myself in and actually make the weight that I was intending for the actual for the project. I trained three times a day. It’s a lot of action sequences and fight scenes in the film, so it’s a lot of physical work during the time in between.”

The commitment wasn’t just about hitting the gym either. Getting back into boxing after decades away proved humbling in ways he didn’t anticipate.

“The boxing part of it is fun to get back into that. I started a long time ago and did it all the time as a kid growing up. It’s like playing football. You know if you played football in college or you playing football in school, you never stop being a football player. In your mind, you could still play football. No, you can’t. You can’t run as fast as you ran at that point. No, you are not tackling nobody like you used to tackle people back then,” he said.

The reality check came quickly, but it also motivated him to dig deeper into the character work. Beyond the physical grind, 50 Cent connected with director Kitao Sakurai’s vision for the entire project.

“I work with a lot of different directors. They got different styles and different things, but I think when what stands out is his clarity in his choices. How he articulates, that is what makes him a dope director. He knows the world that he’s trying to capture,” 50 Cent shared.

That clarity extended to how the choreography and combat sequences were structured for his villain character.

“It’s choreographed movement. They had to get into throwing the shots the way he [Balrog] throws the shots cause this is a villain, a bad guy. Everything that you see in this in this actual in this film, it comes from structured combat. Whether it’s the sport of boxing and it’s whether it’s jujitsu or mixed martial arts in different ways,” he explained.

The production team worked to ensure every punch, every movement, and every moment reflected the character’s fighting style and personality.

50 Cent also made sure to acknowledge the team that made his vision possible and that he is the star of the flick.

“I’m just being a part of the Street Fighter legacy in a small way because I’m participating with everybody project. But again, I’d like to take a moment to thank everybody for working on ‘my’ movie because this is ‘my’ movie. Do you understand? Legendary [Pictures] went out their way to make the movie that I wanted to make so I could play the character I wanted to play so people can feel like I want them to feel at the moment,” 50 Cent said.

The ensemble cast also includes Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, and Callina Liang as Chun-Li, with the film set to deliver action sequences that rival the game’s intensity.