The Big Picture
- Properly executed adaptations have shown that they can attract a viewing audience, as seen with recent projects such as HBO’s The Last of Us and House of the Dragon.
- Tasha Huo, known for her experience in navigating lore-based adaptations, has been tapped as the screenwriter for Lionsgate’s live-action Naruto film, showing promising progress for the long-awaited adaptation.
- While the success of anime to live-action adaptations varies, if Netflix’s One Piece can excel and earn a second season renewal, there is potential for Naruto to succeed as well, considering they both have lengthy chapters and focus on adventure and action.
Video games, comics and novels have over the years given the entertainment industry a seemingly unending pool of works that could warrant a live-action remake. Recent projects such as HBO’s The Last of Us and House of the Dragon, among a host of others, have shown that written works, when executed properly, could attract a viewing audience. We live in an age where popular Japanese manga/anime series have taken center stage, and among the leading lights is Masashi Kishimoto‘s Naruto. However, despite a planned adaptation being in the works at Lionsgate for many years, news on production has been scarce. Finally, a substantial new development in the adaptation has been announced with a screenwriter coming on board.
Kishimoto’s serialized manga first arrived in 1999 and quickly surged to the top of sales charts before earning itself an anime adaptation. The success of Naruto was translated on screen while attracting even more audiences to the adventures of Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage. The prospect of giving this global phenom a live-action is certainly a massive task, and per Variety, the first step in that journey has been taken with Tasha Huo coming on board as the screenwriter for the Lionsgate-produced film. Huo will be taking up the task with notable experience of navigating lore-based adaptations, with recent credits including upcoming adaptations of Red Sonja and an animated Tomb Raider series based on the video games.
The story of the evergreen Naruto follows a titular character who, shortly after being born, fuses with the nine-tail fox as an infant. With an ambition to become his village’s Hokage, Naruto from a tender age dedicates himself to training, which includes joining the Leaf Village Academy and taking the chunin exams. The tale is globally revered and considered one of the best anime ever. Huo seems excited rather than daunted by the task, “Adapting iconic characters or IP makes the writing of it easier, because the passion for writing it is already there,” Huo says. “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.”
Can ‘Naruto’ Succeed as Live-Action?
The original manga series for Naruto is a brutally lengthy one consisting of 700 chapters that encapsulates the full story of the Seventh Hookage. When it became an anime adaptation, the manga was split into two shows: Naruto, and Naruto: Shippuden. A sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations would follow later from series author Kishimoto. The scorecard for anime to live-action adaptations succeeding is varied to say the least with different levels of performance. However, should Naruto look to succeed, the live-action adaptation might look at the work done with Netflix’s One Piece which excelled upon release, earning itself a second season renewal. Both manga boast equally lengthy chapters, with a focus on adventure and thrilling action. If One Piece and Monkey D. Luffy can succeed, perhaps Naruto can also.
Naruto
Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous adolescent ninja, struggles as he searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the village’s leader and strongest ninja.
- Release Date
- October 3, 2002
- Cast
- Junko Takeuchi, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Hidekatsu Shibata, Yoichi Masukawa, Masashi Ebara, Ryôka Yuzuki
- Main Genre
- Animation
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
