Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: naruto
Naruto Will Be "Nuanced And Special" Says The Original Script Writer
Tasha Huo, who was the original writer of the live-action adaptation of Naruto, praises director and writer Destin Daniel Cretton's "nuanced and special" take.
Article Summary
- Tasha Huo praises Destin Daniel Cretton's "nuanced and special" take on the live-action Naruto adaptation.
- After successes and failures, Hollywood hopes to capture Naruto's magic with Cretton's direction.
- Live-action Naruto has been in development since 2015, navigating challenges of long-running manga adaptations.
- Lionsgate aims for Naruto's success akin to Netflix's One Piece, avoiding another Ghost in the Shell scenario.
Back in February, word came down that another manga, Naruto, was getting the live-action adaptation treatment. So far, this has been mixed, though it appears to have more misses than hits. There is a laundry list of reasons why these adaptations are having so much trouble, but these stories have massive fanbases, and when they nail it, these adaptations are huge — looking at you, One Piece over on Netflix. Since then, we haven't heard anything about the film, and it sounds like it is still in its early stages, but there has been some movement. Before Destin Daniel Cretton was brought on to direct and write Naruto, Tasha Huo wrote the original script. Huo has been involved with adapting plenty of media from one medium to another, such as The Witcher: Blood Origins, Tomb Raider, The Legend of Lara Croft, and the upcoming Red Sonja film. She recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly and explained that her version of the script is done. She also reassured everyone that this is not a cheap cash grab for anyone involved.
"I think that's such a cool choice because he's going to be able to capture how nuanced and special Naruto is without getting distracted by the big world that it is, which I think could easily be done by someone who's not a fan or someone who's coming in for a cash payday," she says. "This is definitely a movie that comes at it from a love of who Naruto is and that character and his relationships."
A live-action version of Naruto has been kicking around Hollywood since at least 2015, but considering how long the manga ran (it ran from 1999 to 2014), you have to wonder what part of this story they are going to adapt. If you spent any time in the anime and manga fandom in the early 2000s, you probably read or watched some Naruto. Like most long-running mangas, they sometimes go on for so long that fans will drop off before the project ends. That massive volume count can also be very daunting to new fans, though all of these are problems that comic books face. Much like One Piece, there are dedicated fans who grew up on Naruto, and Lionsgate will have to stick this landing, or we will have another Ghost in the Shell situation on our hands.
![](/Google_News_icon.png)