1. Jon Foo as Kyo Kusanagi
Jon Foo is my main choice for Kyo because when he played the role of Jin Kazama in "Tekken," I wasn't sure if he looked like Jin at all; he kinda reminded me of the Prince of Flames more. In addition to that is the fact that he is a practitioner of Wu Shu and has also learned some Muay Thai when he moved to Thailand (and starred in "The Protector" with Tony Jaa) and Karate before he was Ryu in "Street Fighter Legacy." Second, despite speaking with a British accent and having a half Chinese and English heritage, I think he could pull off some good Japanese as he did when he was Ryu and maybe an American accent.
In my KOF movie, Kyo is the leader of the Long Beach Shoguns martial arts gang; he is also an aspiring rock star (who can emulate singing voices of famous names like Bono, Freddie Mercury, and Daryl Hall), kickboxer, and MMA fighter who mastered 5 arts: Kirishima Ninjutsu (which includes pyrotechnics and ninja-style swordfighting), San Shou (Chinese boxing), Muay Thai kickboxing, Brazilian Jiujitsu, and Shotokan Karate.
Sean Faris, eat your heart out.
2. Leah Dizon as Yuri Sakazaki
J-pop singer Leah Dizon is my #1 choice for Yuri Sakazaki because of her youthful appearance of which anybody can never tell that she's in her mid-20's and her spirited personality on stage as she has starred in "Kiba" and "Traffic in the Sky."
Her background somewhat comes into play as she is half-Filipino and French-American and Yuri is of mixed heritage as well, which adds to the beauty of both ladies.
In my envisioned King of Fighters movie, Yuri is the leader of the Santa Monica Spice martial arts gang; she is a practitioner of kickboxing-modified Kyokushin Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Kendo, and she is also an avid gymnast and ballerina. She is Kyo's main love interest as the pair have been the closest friends since childhood.
3. Hiroyuki Sanada as Saisyu Kusanagi
I applauded Hiroyuki for his performance as Shinbei, the leading character in "Satomi Hakkenden" aka "The Legend of the Eight Samurai" back in the 1980's and recently as the head of Togokhan industries in "Speed Racer."
He is my choice for Saisyu because he has the looks and can perform as the troubled former heir to the Kusanagi ninja clan who turned over to a life of crime as a yakuza boss (with a little Scarface-like attitude) in order to indirectly provide for his family, thus, making his son the next heir to the throne.
4. Yoko Shimada as Shizuka Kusanagi
I liked Yoko in her performance as Kimie Hanada in the live-action adaptation of "Crying Freeman," which had me cast her as a hero's mother who has partial knowledge of karate and ninjutsu.
5. Sho Kosugi as Takuma Sakazaki
Ah, Sho Kosugi, the star of numerous ninja flicks. Loved him in "Ninja Assassin" and "Revenge of the Ninja." Not to mention he is an expert in Ninjutsu, Shindo Jinen-Ryu Karate, Judo, Iaido, Aikido, and Kobudo.
6. Apolo Anton Ohno as Ryo Sakazaki
It was really hard for me to find an actor that can play the role of raging karateka Ryo Sakazaki. I tried guys like Stephen Fung, but they just weren't for my tastes. So, I settled for Apolo. Although already famous as an olympic ice skater, I bet he wouldn't mind learning some karate before tackling the role. I mean, Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are after all actors who just happened to learn some MMA before starring in "Warrior."
7. Jason David Frank as Robert Garcia
The actor who was well known and loved by kids as Tommy Oliver the Green/White/Black Dino Ranger in the "Power Rangers" series, Jason (or "JD" as I like to refer to him as) caught my senses due to his similar look as Robert during his "Rangers" time. Now, he's going MMA, which spices up everything.
8. Christian Howard as Terry Bogard
Christian became famous by taking on the role of Ken Masters opposite Jon Foo as Ryu in the short film "Street Fighter: Legacy." Now, before some of you claim something like, "Oh. He has the last name Howard, which is the one for the bad guy in 'Fatal Fury'," must I remind you that I don't care.
9. Andy On Chi-Kit as Joe Higashi
I previously put Cung Le as Joe, but I figured that he's too bulky as the crazy Japanese Muay Thai boxer. So, I replaced him with fairly much younger actor Andy On Chi-Kit, star of "The Kumite" (originally "Star Runner").
10. Gerald Anderson as Shingo Yabuki
I previously put Rain as Shingo, but dude's gettin' old. We need a rather younger and Hollywood-fresh face for the part of the crazy Kusanagi bandwagon fanboy. So, I put the Filipino-American star of "Tayong Dalawa."
All Gerald needs to do is learn some Muay Thai, Boxing, and Jiujitsu, and we're good.
11. Brenda Song as Kasumi Todoh
Brenda is my primary choice for Kasumi. What with her having a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and being a star of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," she can pull off a great young, beautiful Judoka...that is, if she can include grappling styles in her arsenal.
12. Jung-Hwa Kim as Yuki "Vice" Kushinada
I'll admit that I don't know much about her, but I'll bet that she can act better than Bernice Liu in her role as Vice in the actual crap-tastic KOF movie. You wanna know a little something? I turned Yuki into the jealous ex-girlfriend who ran to Iori's side, obtained the Orochi power, and took the alter ego and codename "Vice." So, let the hate rain down. I wouldn't mind.
13. Shun Oguri as Iori Yagami
I stumbled upon pictures of Shun with his hair dyed red and read about his filmography, which included Shinichi "Jimmy" Kudo in "Detective Conan," and I thought to myself, "That's him! That's the guy who can pull off a great role as the heir to the Yasakani ninja clan."
14. Keiko Kitagawa as Athena Asamiya
Keiko is best known as Rei Hino, Sailor Mars in the live action adaptation of "Sailor Moon." I picked her as Athena because her looks as Sailor Mars are pretty much comparable.
15. Emiru Momose as Mai Shiranui
Gordon Chan made a huge mistake of casting flat-chested Maggie Q as Mai Shiranui in the actual movie. So, here is a friendly suggestion: one of the girls who has starred in the adult-themed assassin movie "Lady Ninja Kasumi."
16. Amber Heard as "Blue Mary" Ryan
Most of you may know her as Baja Miller in "Never Back Down," and with a little crash course in Sambo and kickboxing, Amber may have a chance to be Terry Bogard's girl.
17. Keira Knightley as King
Judging from her performance as Sabe in "Star Wars Episode 1" and the titular bounty hunter Domino, Keira might be suitable for the role of the tomboyish kickboxing bartender.
18. Kelly Hu as Chizuru Kagura
Known for her roles such as Okiku in "Afro Samurai," The Sorceress in "The Scorpion King," and Suki Toyama in "Red Alert 3," Kelly Hu looks like the type to play as the gate keeper between earth and the dark dimension of the Orochi.
19. Mark Dacascos as Kim Kap-Hwan
Even though I've only seen Mark as Yo Hinomura, the "Crying Freeman," I gotta say he has made a mark as one of the greatest fighting actors of all time. As a practitioner of Kajukenbo, Capoeira, and Muay Thai, let's see how he fairs as the Tae Kwon Do master in KOF.
20. Kristanna Loken as Mature
Probably best known as the Terminatrix in "Terminator 3," Kristanna Loken might be suitable as one of those b@#$%-@$$ vixens you don't wanna mess with.
21. Tony Romo as Brian Battler
Though not much of an actor but rather one of the greatest quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys lest becoming infamous for being referenced as a terrible Navy pilot callsign ("Romo's B***h"), Tony might be able to pull off the only gruff, hard-charging football player in the KOF series.
22. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as Darrel "Heavy D" Williams
There are 2 things that led me to cast "Rampage" as Heavy D: 1 - he's a well-known heavyweight MMA fighter; 2 - his appearance as Baracus in the reboot of "A-Team" resembled that of D.
23. George Gore II as Lucky Glauber
I was gonna put Kobe Bryant as Lucky, but then I considered the star of "My Wife and Kids." After all, Lucky is one of the comic reliefs in the series.
24. John Cena as Clark Still
WWE wrestler John Cena gave a spectacular performence in "The Marine" no matter how mediocre a lot of people thought the movie was. So, why not cast him as one of Heidern's underlings?
25. Forrest Griffin as Ralf Jones
One of the biggest in UFC, Forrest Griffin not only fought in the Octagon but also did some stints in acting (esp. in "Law and Order" as Mike Kona)
26. Randy Couture as Chief of Police Samuel Heidern
A well balanced mixture of MMA fighter and actor, Randy Couture has starred in big titles as "The Expendables" and "Cradle 2 the Grave" and the video game "Red Alert 3" as one of the allied commanders, with the 3rd role inspiring me to cast him as senior army officer-turned-cop Sam Heidern.
27. Mila Kunis as Leona Heidern
Though not much of a fighter or a trooper, Mila Kunis may be able to pull off the role as Heidern's adopted daughter who is taught the ways of a commando and law enforcer.
28. Michael Jai White as Richard Meyer
Mike has stood shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest fighters/actors of all time like Steven Segal and JCVD as he is a black belt in 7 arts. With that said, he can pull off a great Capoeira fighter and extra character in a more faithful live-action adaptation of KOF after getting his hands dirty on the techniques of rhythmic brawling.
29. Lyoto Machida as Marco Rodriguez
I know some of you will claim that Lyoto resembles Ryu more, but with a little work on getting his humorous groove on, he'll make a great Marco.
30. Takeshi Kaneshiro as Benimaru "Benny" Nikaido
Mostly known for starring in ancient Chinese martial arts films like "House of Flying Daggers" and "Red Cliff," Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro can fill in the role of Benimaru considering that the potential director makes him manlier than the actual character in the series.
31. Yoji Anjo as Goro Daimon
I dunno much about this guy except he is a wrestler/MMA fighter who has fought huge names like Rickson Gracie and Matt Lindland. All I can say is that he is the closest I could think of that can be the giant Judoka of the Hero Team.
32. Steve Austin as Mr. Big
The former king of wrestling, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has performed as one of the bad guys in "The Expendables," which inspired me to cast him as Mr. Big, the guy who kidnapped my favorite KOF girl in "Art of Fighting" and forced Takuma to disguise as Mr. Karate and work for his syndicate.
33. Don Frye as Wolfgang Krauser
Another MMA fighter-turned-actor, Don Frye might be widely regarded as a pastiche of "Final Fight" character Mayor Mike Haggar, but if only he can grow his hair long, dye it purple, and carve an X-shaped scar on his forehead, he might be able to give it all as Krauser.
34. Geese Howard (3 Choices)
Hurr-hurr-hurr! This is where the 1st greatest challenge begins, folks. I have considered 3 actors who can give a shocking performance as South Town criminal kingpin Geese Howard: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gary Daniels, and Kevin Mckidd. While Van Damme and Daniels might have already been great martial artists and actors alike, consider Kevin McKidd's role as Moses in "The Purifiers," a gangster who wants to unify all of the gangs in a city in Scotland (much like Cyrus in "The Warriors" who was played by Roger Hill).
35. Rugal Bernstein (2 choices)
Last but not least, the 2nd and final challenge for casting someone as the boss of all bosses in "King of Fighters." On one hand, I have Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), and in the other, Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago in "Rocky 4" and Gunner in "The Expendables"). Both men stand 6+ feet high and, from the looks of it all, can pull off a rather extremely intimidating figure.
And there you have it. My "King of Fighters" cast and characters list. Please feel free to make any corrections and suggestions. Thank you.