What Spider-Man and The Dark Knight have done for comic book heroes and Sin City and 300 have done for graphic novels, these upcoming films will do for manga and anime. Speed Racer took the plunge being the first anime to be adapted by Hollywood, and there will be many more to come starting with these movies detailed below.
Dragonball
After many years of rumor and pitfalls, a live-action adaptation of one of the most popular anime/manga series in history is finally going to be released. Originally scheduled for release in August 2008, the film was pushed back to 2009 due to the amount of summer blockbusters and to allow additional post-production work. For all intents and purposes, the film has been completed and is now scheduled to make its debut sometime in February or March.
The film is based off of the last story arc in the Dragonball series (not Dragonball Z), the King Piccolo Saga. It follows protagonist Goku and his pursuit of the omni-powerful seven dragonballs before the evil Piccolo does. It’s directed by James Wong starring Justin Chatwin as Goku with Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi, Emmy Rossum as Bulma, and James Marsters as Piccolo.
The teaser trailer was leaked on the internet weeks ago, and now a new trailer has been just recently released. Many fans have already judged the film to be a waste of everyone’s time. A few glaring issues that fans have pointed out have been the dubious design of some of the characters and the mysterious absence of some key figures like Goku’s best friend, Krillin.
Death Note
Two live-action films based off the manga/anime series the have already been released in Japan in 2006 and were very successful. A U.S. remake of the first film has been confirmed and will be produced by Vertigo Entertainment, responsible for remakes of other Asian movies including The Grudge, The Eye, Shutter, among others. The company reportedly beat out numerous other film companies who expressed interest in the film’s rights.
The plot of the manga/anime follows ace student, Light Yagami. One day he finds a mysterious notebook, the “Death Note,” with the power to kill anyone who has had their name written in it. Light takes it upon himself to rid the world of wrongdoing by killing off criminal offenders. Most of the story stems from his battle with the enigmatic detective, named “L,” as well as the moral and psychological ramifications of Light’s actions.
A wild, presumably fan-originated rumor is circulating that the lead of Light will be played by Zac Efron of High School Musical fame. Many fans have already condemned the film’s release based off this unconfirmed and probably untrue casting. I personally do not believe this rumor has any legs to stand on, so don’t believe anything you read until an official cast is announced. The film is tentatively scheduled for release in 2010.
Akira
When the feature-length anime film based off of Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga of the same name made its debut in 1988, it was revolutionary. Sporting extremely crisp visuals and animation, Akira ushered in an anime renaissance in the United States. Akira has had a profound impact and influence around the world since its release and now it will finally be made into a live-action film.
It will be based off the manga, which takes place in a dystopian Tokyo, ravaged by a nuclear explosion that caused World War III. The leader of a teen-aged motorcycle gang, Kaneda is swept into a secret government project when his childhood friend, Tetsuo is captured. Tetsuo is experimented on and gains extremely powerful telepathic abilities, which he uses to go on a rampage that everyone is powerless to stop.
Warner Brothers has acquired the rights to the film and Ruariri Robinson will direct it. Andrew Lazer, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Davisson will produce. Gary Whitta is writing the screenplay. The film has a tentative release date of February 2010.
Ghost in the Shell
The popular manga series created by Masamune Shirow, which spawned three anime films, an anime series, and several video games, will be made into a 3D live-action Hollywood film. Dreamworks acquired the rights to the film over Universal and Sony after Stephen Spielberg took a personal interest in the project saying, “‘Ghost in the Shell’ is one of my favorite stories.” It is unclear however what role, if any, Spielberg will have in the production of the film. Ari Arad and Stephen Paul will be producers and Jamie Moss will write the screenplay. Arad is known for producing all the Spider-Man and X-Men movies as well last summer’s Iron Man.
The plot of the manga follows cybernetic cop, “Major” Motoko Kusanagi who heads a secret spec-ops task force to stop the master cyber-criminal and hacker, the “Puppet Master.” Much of the first anime film focuses on Kusanagi’s struggle with her identity as a human being and what it means to be human.
The anime adaptation of the film has had a tremendous impact and influence in the West. Most notably, the Wachowski brothers cited the film as inspiration in the production of The Matrix. They even showed the film to Warner Brothers as part of the pitch in order to show the style and world they wished to create.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Announced way back in 2003, a Hollywood adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion is in a tough spot right now. The film is said to be in “development hell” as a director has not been selected, nor has the project been greenlit. ADV Films, who holds the rights to the movie, have been experiencing recent financial difficulty, which makes the possibility of a release any time in the near future a remote possibility.
The film’s production, which hasn’t even started, is surrounded by massive rumor and speculation from fans. While no data pertaining to the actual plot of the film has been announced, a popular theory is that this film will take place somewhere in America (not Japan) and follow the first six episodes of the series with the plan of releasing a trilogy or even a tetralogy of films to tell the complete story. It has been said that any actors who end up portraying the three teenage protagonists of Shinji, Rei, and Asuka will not be any established actors/actresses and will likely be new faces to Hollywood.
If the film does ever start production, it will have a lot of things going for it. First, Weta Workshop, who has worked on films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, has already been contracted to produce the film’s special effects. They have already released concept art of the Evas, plug suits, and NERV headquarters. Second, allegedly several directors and celebrities have approached the project expressing interest. Lastly Evangelion, if nothing else, has a huge following in the U.S. that will hopefully keep the project afloat and will almost guarantee financial success upon release.
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anime. Show all posts
Jul 4, 2008
Anime on Jeopardy!
I know I've been beating the proverbial anime horse for a prolonged period of time, but this is worth reporting-- an anime category on Jeopardy. It was in the double jeopardy round about three weeks ago. Any hardcore anime fan would have surely answered all of the questions correctly as they were child's play with answers from Pokémon, Sailor Moon, and Princess Mononoke. I was quite shocked when one of the contestants, the one in the champion's position at the time, answered all correctly with the exception of one. The clue he missed was for the movie, "Akira," but he dubiously answered "Akiro." Honest mistake I guess, if you're an uptight smarty-pants adult who doesn't watch any anime. I love Jeopardy even more now.
Jun 1, 2008
Anime on the Big Screen
I recently viewed Spirited Away, on a large projector screen for my Asian Humanities class. Even though I had seen the movie a bunch of times on my home television sets, I was blown away by the animation when I saw it in that classroom. The experience raised issues with me about the treatment and marketing of anime films in the US.
Princess Mononoke was the first movie out of Disney's deal with Studio Ghibli to come to the American Theaters, they appeared to go all out and hired an all-star Hollywood cast that included, Billy-Bob Thorton, Gillian Anderson, Jada-Pinkett Smith, and more. However, the film was poorly marketed and the film was only seen in select cities. After the "failure" of the film's showing in the US any other theatrical releases of Ghibli's films was put on indefinite hold.
What did they expect? I never once saw a commercial for Mononoke back in '99 when it came out here. It's truly a shame, because this is one of the best animated films of all-time. You would think a movie of that quality shouldn't have failed in the hands of Disney, but it did. Which led to the subsequent treatment of Miyazaki's next film, Spirted Awat. Again, poor marketing and a limited viewing window caused the movie to "fail." Which made everyone more surprised when the film won the 2003 Academy Award for best animated film. The very next day, theaters rebooked the film and promptly doubled its sales in just two weeks.
The execs at Disney and other distributing companies say that it is too risky to heavily market anime, but it doesn't even seem they are trying to reach out to even the core audience who wants to see these movies. I never had the opportunity to see Spirited Away on the silver screen, because I wasn't anywhere near one of the selected cities. Fortunately, I was blessed to see Howl's Moving Castle in a local theater, and I hope Disney and America have learned their lesson, but I'm not holding my breath.
Princess Mononoke was the first movie out of Disney's deal with Studio Ghibli to come to the American Theaters, they appeared to go all out and hired an all-star Hollywood cast that included, Billy-Bob Thorton, Gillian Anderson, Jada-Pinkett Smith, and more. However, the film was poorly marketed and the film was only seen in select cities. After the "failure" of the film's showing in the US any other theatrical releases of Ghibli's films was put on indefinite hold.
What did they expect? I never once saw a commercial for Mononoke back in '99 when it came out here. It's truly a shame, because this is one of the best animated films of all-time. You would think a movie of that quality shouldn't have failed in the hands of Disney, but it did. Which led to the subsequent treatment of Miyazaki's next film, Spirted Awat. Again, poor marketing and a limited viewing window caused the movie to "fail." Which made everyone more surprised when the film won the 2003 Academy Award for best animated film. The very next day, theaters rebooked the film and promptly doubled its sales in just two weeks.
The execs at Disney and other distributing companies say that it is too risky to heavily market anime, but it doesn't even seem they are trying to reach out to even the core audience who wants to see these movies. I never had the opportunity to see Spirited Away on the silver screen, because I wasn't anywhere near one of the selected cities. Fortunately, I was blessed to see Howl's Moving Castle in a local theater, and I hope Disney and America have learned their lesson, but I'm not holding my breath.
Feb 11, 2008
Dragonball live action movie?
There have been talks and rumors about a live-action Hollywood produced Dragonball film over the past decade or so. Unbeknownst to me until recently, the film is nearly completed and is slated to release in August of this year. Along with the Wachowski Brothers’ adaptation of Speed Racer, which is due out this May, Dragonball will find itself somewhat a part of history as being one of the first animes/mangas to be adapted and produced with a Hollywood, big-budget effort. Some may say that Transformers belongs in this category, but I don’t fully agree. While Transformers was originally based off a Japanese toy line, the first cartoon series was American made, and I would say, the toys, as well as the show are as much a part of American pop culture as they are in Japanese pop culture. No doubt Speed Racer and Dragonball will mark the first major releases of adaptations of anime/manga smack dab in the middle of the American mainstream.
Even though Transformers isn’t necessarily the same animal as a Dragonball or Speed Racer, it is close enough that I am willing to compare them to each other. Like Transformers before them, I expect that both Dragonball and Speed Racer will enjoy a moderate degree of box office success. Not just because of all the fanboys and otakus who will undoubtedly line the rows of theater seats, but because of the general appeal the two films will bring with them (eg Dragonball, with its superhero-esque themes will certainly draw a good sum of moviegoers). Also like Transformers, both films will incorporate brilliant production values and special effects; in fact, Speed Racer was filmed entirely in front of green screen. Also, John Gaeta, who won an academy award for his visual effects work on The Matrix was brought in to help with the Speed Racer adaptation. As for Dragonball, 87Eleven, the stunt performance studio that worked on The Matrix and 300 was contracted for the film, as well as Ariel Shaw (Final Destination Series, 300), who will work as visual effects supervisor.
My preemptive opinion about these two films, especially Dragonball, is that they will totally suck out loud. Dragonball will receive the superhero movie treatment and rely heavily on special effects at the cost of writing, story, acting, everything else. I am saying this not as a fan of the Dragonball anime/manga, which I am, but as a person who has viewed all those crappy superhero movies. Quick, name a good recent superhero movie besides the first two Spidermans and Batman Begins. Any intelligent person probably isn’t able to come up with one. I say intelligent because of the embarrassing amount of people who seem to think that the Fantastic Four movies are good. As for Speed Racer, it might turn out well because it’s the Wachoski Brothers, but the trailer has done nothing suggest that it won’t suck.
Transformers also suffered from this treatment. Believe me, I wanted this movie to be good. When I saw the trailer, I thought it was going to be awesome, but it was ultimately a huge disappointment. Michael Bay couldn’t pull enough special effects out of his ass to save this movie from being a complete waste of time for me.
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see a film with a story inspired and influenced off of Chinese culture and Buddhism, originally written in a Japanese context, adapted to an American Hollywood feature will turn out to work. Regardless, I will probably go out and see Dragonball in the theaters. I am already beginning to regret it now.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how the two films fare at the box office, paving the way for more anime/manga based movies to come about. Currently, two confirmed anime/manga based movies are in the works. One, based off of the brilliant 1988 anime, Akira, and another based off of the Evangelion series. No news as to when these films will be released.
For those who are wondering, the Dragonball movie will follow the story of the last saga in the series, the King Piccolo saga. Where Goku (Justin Chatwin, War of the Worlds) tries to gather the magical dragonballs before the evil Piccolo (James Marsters, Smallville) does. The film will be directed by James Wong (Final Destination).
For more information on both movies head over to these links.
http://imdb.com/title/tt1098327/
http://imdb.com/title/tt0811080/
Even though Transformers isn’t necessarily the same animal as a Dragonball or Speed Racer, it is close enough that I am willing to compare them to each other. Like Transformers before them, I expect that both Dragonball and Speed Racer will enjoy a moderate degree of box office success. Not just because of all the fanboys and otakus who will undoubtedly line the rows of theater seats, but because of the general appeal the two films will bring with them (eg Dragonball, with its superhero-esque themes will certainly draw a good sum of moviegoers). Also like Transformers, both films will incorporate brilliant production values and special effects; in fact, Speed Racer was filmed entirely in front of green screen. Also, John Gaeta, who won an academy award for his visual effects work on The Matrix was brought in to help with the Speed Racer adaptation. As for Dragonball, 87Eleven, the stunt performance studio that worked on The Matrix and 300 was contracted for the film, as well as Ariel Shaw (Final Destination Series, 300), who will work as visual effects supervisor.
My preemptive opinion about these two films, especially Dragonball, is that they will totally suck out loud. Dragonball will receive the superhero movie treatment and rely heavily on special effects at the cost of writing, story, acting, everything else. I am saying this not as a fan of the Dragonball anime/manga, which I am, but as a person who has viewed all those crappy superhero movies. Quick, name a good recent superhero movie besides the first two Spidermans and Batman Begins. Any intelligent person probably isn’t able to come up with one. I say intelligent because of the embarrassing amount of people who seem to think that the Fantastic Four movies are good. As for Speed Racer, it might turn out well because it’s the Wachoski Brothers, but the trailer has done nothing suggest that it won’t suck.
Transformers also suffered from this treatment. Believe me, I wanted this movie to be good. When I saw the trailer, I thought it was going to be awesome, but it was ultimately a huge disappointment. Michael Bay couldn’t pull enough special effects out of his ass to save this movie from being a complete waste of time for me.
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see a film with a story inspired and influenced off of Chinese culture and Buddhism, originally written in a Japanese context, adapted to an American Hollywood feature will turn out to work. Regardless, I will probably go out and see Dragonball in the theaters. I am already beginning to regret it now.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how the two films fare at the box office, paving the way for more anime/manga based movies to come about. Currently, two confirmed anime/manga based movies are in the works. One, based off of the brilliant 1988 anime, Akira, and another based off of the Evangelion series. No news as to when these films will be released.
For those who are wondering, the Dragonball movie will follow the story of the last saga in the series, the King Piccolo saga. Where Goku (Justin Chatwin, War of the Worlds) tries to gather the magical dragonballs before the evil Piccolo (James Marsters, Smallville) does. The film will be directed by James Wong (Final Destination).
For more information on both movies head over to these links.
http://imdb.com/title/tt1098327/
http://imdb.com/title/tt0811080/
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