‘Naruto’ Will Get a Live-Action Movie

Naruto, the massively popular manga and anime series, is getting a live-action adaptation.

The concept, which has sold hundreds of millions of copies around the world, is being turned into a movie by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously helmed Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Just Mercy. Cretton is attached to both write and direct the project.

Naruto follows the title character, a young ninja who aspires to become the leader of his village.

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The Hollywood Reporter shared this statement on Cretton joining the project from Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto:

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. In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process.

Originally serialized from 1999 to 2014, Naruto was then published in dozens of collections. The anime series of Naruto lasted over 200 episodes and aired from 2002 to 2007. A second anime series ran for 500 episodes from 2007 to 2017. A Hollywood live-action Naruto movie was first announced by Lionsgate back in 2015.

Cretton is also working on a Shang-Chi sequel and is also involved in the Disney+ series Wonder Man about the Marvel hero. (He will be played by actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.)

Cretton was also previously attached to the next Avengers movie, which was originally titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty when it was still planned to feature Jonathan Majors’ villain Kang the Conqueror. Cretton left the project last fall; Marvel later fired Majors following his conviction on assault and harassment charges. It was recently reported that the film is being rewritten and retitled.