Dragon Ball Movie to Film for 2009 Release

[Gundampilotspaz]

AnimeNewsNetwork is reporting about the coming Hollywood adaptation of Dragonball:

Twentieth Century Fox has officially announced that it signed director James Wong (Final Destination, X-Files television series, The One) and casted twenty-five-year-old Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds, The Invisible, Lost television series) in the lead role of Goku for the movie adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball action manga. According to the Variety newspaper, filming is set to begin this month, and the film is slated to open worldwide on August 15, 2008. James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Spike, Smallville’s Brainiac) will play the antagonist Piccolo, and Stephen Chow, of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer fame, is producing the project.

Wong will not only direct the film, but he also rewrote an earlier script that was submitted by Ben Ramsey (The Big Hit). According to The Hollywood Reporter newspaper, the story centers around the alien Goku as an adult as he protects Earth — the very planet he was sent to destroy. Chatwin is training under the stunt firm 87Eleven (The Matrix, The Bourne Supremacy, 300). Other roles are still being casted. Previous reports have indicated that shooting will take place near Montreal, Canada and in Mexico, and that Heroes actor James Kyson Lee is auditioning for the role of Yamcha.

Between 1984 and 1995, Toriyama created 519 installments of the original manga for the publisher Shueisha and its Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The manga’s 42 compiled volumes have sold over 150 million copies in Japan and over 300 million copies worldwide. Both the manga and its anime adaptations (Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) have enjoyed success in countries in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. The 17 animated movies in the franchise have been seen a record 49 million times in Japanese theaters. Fox first acquired the live-action film rights to Dragon Ball in 2002.

I’m not sure what to think. The inclusion of Stephen Chow, who is famous for doing comedies, has me a bit worried. I would hope they do a fairly good adaption to the long running series. Unfortunately I will be very shocked if it turns out to be anything but terrible.

Dragon Ball Movie to Film for 2009 Release

[Ziv]

I'm waiting in anticipation of the live action OVER 9000!!!!! skits that cosplayers are gonna do on opening night.

[Kingdom]

Well. Ummm... that's weird.

I can't imagine a DBZ movie without beams, flying, strange animals and umm...Nimbus?

There's just so much to do - I assume they'll just go up to the Vegeta arc in the first movie (heck, end it at Raditz even). Maybe they'll even make an original script (I wouldn't be against it).

I can't even decide if I'm against this or not. I heard about it awhile back but I dismissed it since that Neon Genesis movie flopped too. Who knows? Maybe this'll be more successful than Transformers.

[Samari]

This doesn't seem very promising thus far. If it can be pulled off though, then great.

[Papaya]

It's not DBZ if the fight doesn't last 90% of the movie!

[Kyomi]

Originally Posted by Papaya

It's not DBZ if the fight doesn't last 90% of the movie!

Seconded.

*Hands over a cookie*

[Vexx]

And they spend minutes of dialog explaining or shouting their moves

Some things should just be left in animation.....

[NoSanninWa]

My heart goes out to James Marsters who's ill fate is to play Piccollo in what will inevitably be a pile of doo-doo.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Some things should just be left in animation.....

QFT times nine thousand.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Papaya

It's not DBZ if the fight doesn't last 90% of the movie!

I think you mean: "It's not DBZ if the fight doesn't start until the last 10% of the movie, because they spent the other 90% talking about fighting but not actually doing any."

Then just before the movie ends, they'll stop at a critical point and the announcer will come on: Will Goku save the day? Will anyone figure out why Krillin doesn't have a nose? What was James Marsters on when he signed up to be Piccolo? Stay tuned for the next movie of Dragonball Z! *queue cheesy rock music*

[d-one]

Originally Posted by Solace

Then just before the movie ends, they'll stop at a critical point and the announcer will come on: Will Goku save the day? Will anyone figure out why Krillin doesn't have a nose? What was James Marsters on when he signed up to be Piccolo? Stay tuned for the next movie of Dragonball Z! *queue cheesy rock music*

XD Genious XD

well, i don't expect too much from it -_-

[LightningZERO]

I just don't see how it can be made into a live action film. Well...maybe when there's more news, it may prove me wrong

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Solace

Then just before the movie ends, they'll stop at a critical point and the announcer will come on: Will Goku save the day? Will anyone figure out why Krillin doesn't have a nose? What was James Marsters on when he signed up to be Piccolo? Stay tuned for the next movie of Dragonball Z! *queue cheesy rock music*

I don't think they even have the cuts to do something that awesome.

[outcast_within]

I want to see real people charging up for five minutes

[Ultima_Rasengan05]

I can see the characters not looking exactly like how they are meant to be in the manga or anime, but the scary thought of finding this movie to be as epic as how everyone first doubt Transformers...now thats scary

But I really don't see a point in covering Dragonball Z in movie form...theres too much in the story to cover and it may take up to 20 sequels to cover all the stories in DBZ...I'm just guessing but....WHY?! Why must Hollywood take some anime show that is really made out of fantasy and making it into the big screen using the current technology movie making methods?

I'm kind of skeptical about this movie...it sounds it might bomb real hard...and the elements that make DBZ unique really isn't meant to be seen in real life (fighting in fast speed, screaming, shouting, powering up...)

[2H-Dragon]

Ah DBZ anime was never that good. The Animated movies where crap. So a Movie with people should at least be up an par with the animated movies no? Though I say it's a waste of money, but hey if they see money in it why not. xD

[Daughter!]

It'll be awful. It'll be ridiculous. It'll be garbage, but dammit, I am calling five people and we are paying ten dollars and sitting down to watch the whole thing.

Also, I remember that about three or four years ago there were plans of making a DBZ movie but they were quickly put down.

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Pop-Punk Sucks

It'll be awful. It'll be ridiculous. It'll be garbage, but dammit, I am calling five people and we are paying ten dollars and sitting down to watch the whole thing.

lol 2nd, doesn't matter if its crap and we all KNOW it will be, you still gotta go see it cause its DBZ!!
just like if they ever get round to the Halo movie, if hollywood gets there way with it then u know they will ruin it but u'll still go to see it

[Nvis]

I don't expect anything from this at all. And maybe a lot of people have heard the term Dragon Ball, but not know what it is (I thought this was a kid/teen thing).

It could be made a bit realistic in Dragon Ball (without all the crazy powerups), but if they made a DBZ live movie, that's going to be horrible.

[Kyuusai]

This will probably count among the worst movie adaptations of all time.

The very reason it was adapted from the comic into animation instead of live action is because it couldn't be done properly in live action.

If--and this is one of the largest "if"s in all history--it can turn out to be a good film that's true in spirit to the original... Then the rest of Hollywood should stop trying and just crown James Wong the King of Film.

[cors8]

I hope they do the funky merging dances.