Lionsgate shook the foundations of the world of anime by announcing that the live-action Naruto movie would be written, directed and produced by Marvel’s Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton. While live-action anime adaptations have been controversial in the past, it would seem that projects like Netflix’s One Piece have opened the floodgates for other such projects. Naruto has never before had any sort of live-action adaptation, throwing anime fans for that much more of a loop following the big news.
One of the things that made Netflix’s live-action series a success was the involvement of franchise creator Eiichiro Oda. Oda was given the role of Executive Producer, and the showrunners of the television show weren’t shy about the fact that they needed the mangaka’s approval on quite a few elements in putting together the series. While Kishimoto isn’t listed as a producer on the Lionsgate film, he has already given director Destin Daniel Cretton his approval.
Here’s what Kishimoto had to say, “When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto. After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for Naturo. In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process.”
If you missed the news about the upcoming live-action film, the current head of Lionsgate, Adam Fogelson, shared his thoughts, “This manga classic is beloved by millions of fans all around the world, and Destin has delivered a vision for the movie that we believe will excite that massive fan base as well as those who are new to it. Avi and I have had the pleasure of working together before and I know that as we collaborate with Destin and the team on Naruto, we are in extraordinary hands.”
People doubting about if its going to be good or bad movie , i just want to know how are they going to adapt Naruto running ?? #NARUTO https://t.co/HQSawTmh3Q pic.twitter.com/zMsuBmKUA6
Oh so THIS is why we’re getting that Naruto live action movie ???? pic.twitter.com/NvUVbuxTku
Land of waves is the only Naruto arc that can be adapted into a movie and I really hope that’s the case.. pic.twitter.com/pV1FO11a6A
YALL DONT UNDERSTAND AT ALL
IF THEY
CAST THIS MOVIE RIGHT???
FUUUUUUUCK CLARK KENT, FUCK PETER PARKER, FUCK BRUCE WAYNE…
LET ME TELL YOU THE TALE OF
NARUTO UZUMAKI pic.twitter.com/gUCsqwVQS3
Best case for this Naruto movie imo would be Orochimaru being the primary villian, mostly focused on the Chunin exams/Konoha crush. Would make for some great fight scenes, and an amazing villain, without trying to cram any of the convoluted plot of Shippuden to a 2hr movie.
Kishi bout to be posing like this when the Naruto movie breaks the internet and absolutely dominates the box office ? pic.twitter.com/3g2WBJ1yQ0
Naruto should have been a series BUT if you must do a film, make it a long series of films ala Harry Potter. Orochimaru -villain for Movie 1, Akatsuki for the rest of them. Tobi -the final villain (do NOT take the stupid overcomplicated route the original did for the final boss) https://t.co/l5Loq15h7W
Naruto by guy who directed Shang Chi (decent MCU phase four movie), doesn’t sound so bad so far. pic.twitter.com/zcIhbsoPVZ
