Naruto’s live-action is headed toward the big screen.
Lionsgate announced the adaptation of one of the biggest and most famous manga of all time.
Destin Daniel Cretton, the writer and director of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” has signed on to direct Lionsgate’s live-action adaptation of the popular manga “Naruto.”
The movie is based on the famous manga created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga has gained immense popularity worldwide, with over 250 million copies of the collected volumes sold in more than 60 countries and territories. It has also given rise to several animated series that aired for years on Cartoon Network, Disney XD, Adult Swim and other networks.
The Naruto live-action will be screened in theaters ditching the OTT platform, breaking from the trend of previous manga adaptation live-action releases.
Arad Productions’ Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu will collaborate with Jeremy Latcham to produce the film alongside Destin Daniel Cretton and Jeyun Munford through their respective production companies.
Masashi Kishimoto, the original author of the coming-of-age storyline for Naruto, has proudly given Destin Cretton his blessing to direct the live-action adaptation. Masashi Kishimoto said, “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 ‘Naruto’.”
Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of The Glass Castle, a 2017 drama starring Brie Larson, is teaming up with Lionsgate again for the film adaptation of Naruto. James Myers, who oversaw The Glass Castle, and Jon Humphrey will be the executive producers of the new project. Cretton currently is also set to direct a sequel to “Shang-Chi” and has recently executive produced the series “American Born Chinese” for Disney+. Cretton is represented by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
The adaptation has been in development with Lionsgate since late 2015.