Although the manga has wrapped up, fans of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto have been waiting for their favorite hero-in-training to make it to the big screen. Finally, after months and years of waiting, it seems that they will finally get what they wished for.
Naruto, has reportedly been snagged by Lionsgate, who closed the deal on the rights to adapt the film into a movie. Additionally, the Hollywood rumor mill has it that Michael Gracey is in talks to direct the live-action movie.
Gracey has extensive experience in visual effects for movies and is at the helm of other directorial projects such as the Daughter of Smoke and Bone for Universal, which will be adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel of the same title. He is also working on the Elton John biopic starring Tom Hardy titled Rocketman and a P.T. Barnum biopic for Fox titled The Greatest Showman on Earth.
Also attached to the reported Naruto live-action movie production for Lionsgate are former Marvel big boss, Avi Arad (from the Spider-Man movies) and his son Ari Arad, who will be the producers of the film through their company Arad Productions. Overseeing the production will be Geoff Shaveitz, Erik Feig and Kelly O'Malley.
First published in 1997, the Naruto manga told the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja-in-training who dreamed of becoming the village ninja, his community's top protector and leader. The manga sold more than 200 million copies and was translated into different languages. An animated series was produced and ran for 220 episodes. Also, no less than 10 animated movies were developed by Studio Pierrot based on the hugely popular manga.
No word yet on when the live-action film from Hollywood will be released or even when it will begin production.
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