Hollywood insider website Tracking Board have recently reported that Hollywood studio Lionsgate will soon start its production with a live action film adaptation of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto manga.
Lionsgate (The Hunger Games, The Expendables) are pushing to own the rights to produce a film based on the manga. Michael Gracey (The Magician and Ned Kelly Visual Effects Supervisor) will reportedly direct the upcoming film with Avi Arad (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) producing the film. Erik Feig, Geoff Shaveitz, and Kelly O’Malley will be overseeing the project.
The news come after a series of recent announcements of Hollywood adapting various other Japanese manga and anime franchises, including DreamWorks’ Ghost in the Shell and Paramount Pictures’ Beyblade.
Naruto is an original manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga began in 1999 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and ended in late 2014, compiled into 72 volumes. Since its debut the manga has sold over 130 million copies in Japan alone. The series has also received two TV anime series adaptation, covering the manga’s two parts: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden in 2002 and 2007 respectively. Both series were produced by Studio Pierrot. Additionally, a total of 9 anime films have released to date and numerous OVAs and specials. A light novel spin-off was produced by Masatoshi Kusakabe and released in 2002, and a manga spinoff, titled Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, began publishing in 2010 from Kenji Taira and was adapted into an anime in 2012. Today, the franchise is one of Japan’s most renowned and one of the most popular anime/manga series outside of Japan.
Here is a synopsis of the original series from MAL:
Naruto Uzumaki, a hyperactive and knuckle-headed ninja, lives in Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf village. Moments prior to his birth, a huge demon known as the Kyuubi, the Nine-tailed Fox, attacked Konohagakure and wreaked havoc. In order to put an end to the Kyuubi’s rampage, the leader of the village, the 4th Hokage, sacrificed his life and sealed the monstrous beast inside the newborn Naruto.
Shunned because of the presence of the Kyuubi inside him, Naruto struggles to find his place in the village. He strives to become the Hokage of Konohagakure, and he meets many friends and foes along the way.
A live action hollywood adaptation of Naruto is currently being produced by Lionsgate. Further information about the movie’s progress will be revealed at a later date.
“Naruto”, “Naruto Shippuden”, images and all associated brands and titles © 2015 Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha and Lionsgate