Anime – Hollywood’s Newest Material Source?

Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of movies based on anime in the works? I’m not even talking about video game movies or comic book movies, just anime. We have these movies coming out in the next few years or sooner…with some big names behind them.
Speed Racer (Wachowski Brothers)
Dragonball Z (gonna suck)
Battle Angel (James Cameron)
Ghost in the Shell (Steven Spielberg)
Robotech (Tobey Maguire)
Akira (Leonardo DiCapiro..not starring, just producing as far as I know)
Voltron (might suck, might be awesome)

There’s also an adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender in the works with M. Night Shyamalan directing.

And of course there’s the infamously indefinitely suspended Evangelion project. I still think Hugo Weaving would make an excellent Gendo Ikari.

I have also heard quiet rumblings of a Hellsing film in talks. I love Hellsing, at least the manga and the OVAs (anyone who thinks the anime was anything approaching decent has lost my respect). It would be be a helluva movie, though Kouta Hirano’s storytelling would be difficult to adapt into a film. I mean, the OVAs are about 40-60 minutes each, and there’ll probably be at least six or seven of them. So it probably won’t chronicle the vampire Nazi invasion of Britain. But then again, Peter Jackson compressed the Lord of the Rings into three excellent movies.

Anyway, in case anyone was wondering, yes, these films are ALL live-action. Ghost in the Shell might even be in 3D. Hopefully it will be completely awesome. Could be the next Blade Runner, could be the next Ultraviolet.
Thoughts?
Oh, and before anyone asks, I’m not really for this, but I’m not really against it, either. I’m simply bored and making an observation about a trend I’ve noticed.

I’m not against the idea, but some anime series would be really hard to adapt into a live-action movie.

They are also thinking about making an AVATAR movie.

it’s not a movie, it’s a dragonball movie.

ghost in the shell was a major inspiration for the matrix, so people will immediately compare the two. but idk…..a live action GitS might suck. the major can’t really be made into live action, imo.

Hollywood has been makeing alot of Comic book and Anime movies. Transformars, Iron Man, BatMan, G.I. Joe, Speed Racer.
I have heard that they are making a ThunderCats movie for 2010. Most likely will be CG. Plus there is the 2 part Akira movies. I bet they are going make a Voltron movie too.

did you not read the thread?

They are also thinking about making an AVATAR movie.

There’s also an adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender in the works with M. Night Shyamalan directing.

Do note, however, that this should not be confused with James Cameron’s current project, Avatar.
Of course this is bound to cause confusion, which is why the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie is now officially called "The Last Airbender".
Read it here. (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36415)

I am somewhat excited about the Ghost in the Shell movie. In the right hands, it could be this generation’s Blade Runner. Motoko can be done correctly in real-life. She just needs to be portrayed by a woman who is a sexy babe who can actually act. I really don’t want an Asian woman playing her. She just never really struck me as Asian. Also because Asian acting styles are a little over-dramatic, and no english-speaking Asian actress can pull the look off. At least that I know of. Also, I love Summer Glau, but I figured I’d just get it out now that no, I don’t think she’d make a good Major. She’s too little-girlish.
As for Batou…I have no idea.

will there be a naruto movie too?
if they will do the dragon ball z, what it would look like be?

GitS, good or not, will be interesting to see how they portray the characters in a live-action movie.
Akira….? I don’t know. Wasn’t the anime good enough? 😀
Voltron might either be more or less over-the-top. If they try too hard to appeal to the younger audiences, we might be screwed. If they try to make it like the original dub, WE WILL BE SCREWED. The dub’s soundtrack was pretty good, though.
NGE? It’ll be worth checking out, that’s for sure. Diehards are sure to throw a riot over it.
Now, the idea of a Hellsing movie would be really freakin’ sweet!
The story would be perfect for a movie! Heck, all they need to do is find a top-notch cast and recreate the entire OVA/manga word-for-word!
Voila, Instant Anime/Movie success!

will there be a naruto movie too?
if they will do the dragon ball z, what it would look like be?

This one is an interesting topic, as the idea seemed more like a sick AF joke in the mid-1990s. After 20th Century Fox got the rights to the movie, the project kinda fell off the radar, and rumors of the movie being canned began to spread.
As everyone should know by now, the movie is currently WIP. There have been several shots of the set.
Taking a peak of some of the actors/actresses in Wiki, they seem to got the right people for the job, appearance-wise (no, they were not in costume).
The biggest peeve for fans right now?
GOKU GOES TO FREAKIN’ HIGH SCHOOL!
Need I say more?
That may be a thorn on my side, but the actors/actresses portraying the characters (completely unknown to me) have rekindled my hopes of seeing what could be a surprisingly good movie….
No, I’m not a diehard DBZ fan, but I think every anime-movie deserves a chance before they’re judged by the masses.

GitS, good or not, will be interesting to see how
NGE? It’ll be worth checking out, that’s for sure. Diehards are sure to throw a riot over it.
Now, the idea of a Hellsing movie would be really freakin’ sweet!
The story would be perfect for a movie! Heck, all they need to do is find a top-notch cast and recreate the entire OVA/manga word-for-word!
Voila, Instant Anime/Movie success!

The NGE project has been around for years (I’d say about 6 years or so). I remember reading about it as a freshman in High School, and even then it was a shaky thing. The trouble with Evangelion is that in order to do the Evas in a matter that won’t leave them laughable is to have some super high-end CGI, which means a big budget. Trouble is that Evangelion is a rather intellectual series, and it will probably be lost on the masses, meaning bad numbers at the box office. I’m sure that it would be a big cult movie, but nothing more. Of course if it was dumbed down for the masses, it wouldn’t be Evangelion. I just don’t think it can work.
Hellsing might be kinda cool. The only thing I see being an issue is the whole psychotic ultraviolent vibe the series has being misinterpreted into a Rob Zombie style shoot ’em up. There is substance to it, but I honestly can’t picture anyone who would make a worthy Alucard. At least both in looks and voice. Seras Victoria would need to be played by a young uber-babe. I’m also a sucker for good actresses. For example, I think Zooey Deschanel would make a pretty good Seras. Too bad she’s a shit actress. Did you see Tin Man? God was she terrible.

GOKU GOES TO FREAKIN’ HIGH SCHOOL!
Need I say more?

No. It will be terrible. There is no chance that it will be good. Goku was, I’m sure, an interpretation of the Monkey King Goku of ancient legends. He even had the power pole and the nimbus cloud which he flew on. Why the hell would he be going to high school?
Not that it matters. It was going to be a terrible movie from the start. The only way it has a chance of being good is if it is an adaptation of Season One of DBZ. Even then, the story is going to be warped and compressed considerably. But I tihnk it’ll be something entirely different, because Goku has already matured physically to about how old he was at the end of Dragonball. Yet, it seems to start out with Bulma hitting him as at the beginning of the series (though this time in a charger, not a capsule corp monocycle thing). It’s just going to be baaaaaaaad.

Evangelion really isn’t so much intellectual as it is stuck up its own ass, but that’s a discussion for another time and thread.

As for the DBZ movie, I think you guys are rather missing the point. You can’t expect a grand action-adventure epic. The source material doesn’t fit that bill, so why should the adaptation? It’s going to be a goofy piece of camp cinema; nothing more and nothing less.

fail for forgetting to mention who’s playing Roshi, prak.

that alone will make the movie worth seeing.

Evangelion was intellectually stuck up its own ass. It did cover a lot of esoteric subject matter (the series was a social commentary about how people desire to be with one another, because alone we are miserable or mentally scarred), but in such a convoluted way to make it appear so much deeper than it actually was, so deep the writers didn’t even know what was going on (everything was a metaphor for something else and that something else was a metaphor in and of itself…which isn’t deep or intellectual…its just bullshit).
Even if they cleaned up all the intellectual stuff into a more logical, coherent form, the only ones who would really appreciate it would be college-age otakus. It would fly right over most people’s heads.

Most anime/film crossovers should be in CG. I think

Hollywood using anime as its newest material source shouldn’t surprise anyone. It was inevitable. However, I was expecting those movie companies to release anime based movies a couple of years ago (late 90s/early 00s) when anime was getting real popular. They could’ve made ton of money back then.

Anyway, I’m DEFINITELY sure Hollywood is screw up all those movies or any other anime for that matter. I haven’t seen good anime/comic/game adaption at all from them (except …maybe… V for Vendetta). These assholes will always figure out a way to fuck up a good story/idea/concept.

I’m not against the idea, but some anime series would be really hard to adapt into a live-action movie.

I couldn’t agree more.

The only movie I would PAY to see at the movie theaters is Robotech. I want to see how badly they screw it up.

well, i think hugh laurie (house m.d.) would be a much better gendo ikari.

but, a little correction: avatar is in no way an anime.

and WOOT?? a GUNNM MOVIE? NO WAI!

as for the DB movie, a long time ago i watched the chinese movie based on the series, and (till now) compared to what we are seemingly going to get for this new movie, the chinese one is more faithful to the series than this one will ever be.
special mention to master roshi.

there’s a chinese movie?

The only movie I’m excited about is the Gunnm Movie. Because it’s all CG, not some Americans playing Japanese characters like "Speed Racer" for example.

I just wonder when they’re going to make the Sailor Moon Movie, and if Reese Witherspoon will play Usagi?

Hollywood directors are going for the younger audience just like the music industry is. So it’s no surprise that Horror, Comic Book, Video Game, and Anime movies are the majority of stuff being shown in theaters nowadays.

there’s a chinese movie?

http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=oRYx2Fm0A2Q

http://mx.youtube.com/watch?v=v9wEGbX0r7M&feature=related

actually , the entire movie is viewable there.

GITS live-action movie? by Spielberg? hmm … such potential for massive fail but also potential for greatness. i wonder who is gonna play Batou … Lucy Liu as the Major would be kick-ass but i highly doubt such a casting call.

I’m actually really afraid that they are going to fuck up Akira horribly. As I understand it (but I could be wrong on this) Akira will take place in America and in Neo Manhattan instead of Tokyo. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play Tetsuo and Dicaprio might be taking on the part of Kaneda. If this is even near correct then the two films are already crap IMO.