A live-action Naruto movie, based on the best-selling manga by Masashi Kishimoto, has been announced. Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton has been tapped to direct the adaptation.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Destin Daniel Cretton is directing the movie for Lionsgate, the same studio behind the upcoming Borderlands movie. Cretton was initially signed to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty for Marvel Studios before dropping out of the project. He is best known for directing the 2021 MCU movie, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as the award-winning 2013 movie, Short Term 12.
Naruto follows the well-known story of Naruto Uzumaki, a rebellious young ninja living in the Hidden Leaf Village. Aspiring to become the next hokage (leader) of his village, Naruto has to overcome powerful adversaries and his own afflictions to achieve his goals. Along the way, he befriends ninjas Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.
Naruto began serialisation as a manga in 1999 from author Masashi Kishimoto. It was later adapted into an anime television series in 2002, followed by a sequel anime adaptation called Naruto Shippuden in 2007 that adapted the second half of the manga and concluded the story.
Kishimoto spoke highly of Cretton, saying that there’s no other director that can helm Naruto. “I 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,” said Kishimoto.
‘NARUTO’ creator Masashi Kishimoto says he is convinced there is no other director better to make the live-action remake than Destin Daniel Cretton.
“I found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to… pic.twitter.com/4nBg9NfhfD
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 23, 2024
The live-action Naruto movie doesn’t have a release date yet.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
