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Lionsgate is Making a Live-Action Naruto Film

Lionsgate is making a live-action Naruto film.

Lionsgate is making a live-action Naruto film.

No, that wasn’t a typo. I just had to say it twice, to let it sink in. I can hardly believe it myself, and I’m sure that you will be shocked too.

How could Lionsgate sink this low? The studio that once prided itself on being truly independent, thus allowing filmmakers to go that extra mile that bigger studios wouldn’t allow (they were keen to pick up Rob Zombie‘s House of 1000 Corpses after Universal dropped it because of its violent content), has become yet another cash-grabber despereate on having franchises to milk. And with the latest installments in both The Hunger Games and The Expendables franchises underperforming, they clearly felt that they needed to look elsewhere for something to get the cash rolling in.

The fact that Avi Arad will produce is not a good sign, if you look at his track record. It will be VFX specialist Michael Gracey‘s directional debut.

Everything about this is wrong. Naruto, the third best-selling manga series of all time (205 million), about a young ninja who dreams of becoming Hokage (leader) of his village simply should not be adapted into live-action, especially not as an American film. Everything about the series screams stylish animation and visuals, not live action. And need I remind that the last time a hugely popular manga series was made into a live-action American film, we got Dragonball: Evolution

The manga, written and drawn by Masashi Kishimoto (who will make his first public appearance outside of Japan at the NYC Comic-Con this year), ended last year, but the anime TV series and movies continue.

I’ll admit that I’ve been wrong before, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me about this. The image below shows Naruto’s reaction to the news.

nar 2

What do you think about the live-action Naruto film? Do you think it’s a good idea or should Lionsgate butt out? Tell us what you think in the comments or on Twitter!

About the author

Davidde Gelmini