Believe it! A live-action adaptation of Shonen Jump’s Naruto has been confirmed, with Lionsgate behind the production.
Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed and co-wrote Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has been tapped to lead the film. Cretton is joined by Arad Productions, behind the upcoming adaptation of Borderlands and Dungeons & Dragons.
Naruto is a manga series written by Masashi Kishimoto, that tells a coming-of-age story focusing on a young and enthusiastic ninja named Naruto Uzumaki, who desires to become the leader of his ninja village. Unfortunately, he is an outcast for having the spirit of a demonic nine-tailed fox inside of him. The manga was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014, one of the most popular anthology magazines in Japan.
During that period, Naruto became one of the largest commercially successful intellectual properties, with more than 250 million copies of the volumes sold across over 60 countries and territories. It launched an anime of the same name and a sequel, Naruto: Shippuden. The series has been building hard-core fans around the globe for 25 years.
Cretton has the support of Kishimoto after a visit to Tokyo. In Kishimoto’s words, “When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto,” said Kishimoto in a statement. “After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for Naturo. In actually meeting Destin, I also 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.”
This adaptation has been in the works with Lionsgate since 2015, with Cretton’s boarding making a significant leap forward in getting it to the screen.
Adam Fogelson said, “This manga classic is beloved by millions of fans all around the world, and Destin has delivered a vision for the movie that we believe will excite that massive fan base as well as those who are new to it. Avi and I have had the pleasure of working together before and I know that as we collaborate with Destin and the team on Naruto, we are in extraordinary hands.”