First One Piece, now Naruto looks like it’ll be going the way of live action, though unlike the sea-faring adventure, this one will be a feature film.
Live action adaptations of classic manga aren’t a particularly new thing, but for the most part they’ve been produced and released in Japan, not necessarily targeted for a worldwide release. But Hollywood is clearly cottoning onto the fact that there’s money to be made, as Netflix’s live action take on One Piece has proven to be incredibly successful. Now, as reported by Variety, Naruto, one of the other former “Big Three” alongside One Piece and Bleach, looks to be also receiving a live action, Western adaptation.
In a list of 10 screenwriters to keep an eye on, Variety mentioned Tasha Huo, who’s credits currently include the upcoming adaptation of Red Sonja, an animated Tomb Raider series, and apparently, a Naruto film. “Adapting iconic characters or IP makes the writing of it easier, because the passion for writing it is already there,” Huo told Variety. “I’m so inspired by these characters already that it’s exciting to just take a part of their journey and try to tell that fun story in a way that would appeal to me as a fan.”
She also spoke of adapting Red Sonja specifically, a comic character that’s been around since the 70s, saying, “It gives you this great vehicle for telling big themes about human nature within the spectacle,” also speaking of stories of “great female friendship” and of “how women uniquely survive out in the world.”
The Naruto film is apparently coming from Lionsgate, though there’s currently no other details about the project. A live action take on Naruto from Lionsgate has supposedly been in the works since 2015, though like many adaptations of anime and games before it, it’s taken a while to get going. For now, we just have to wait and see if it actually gets made this time.