The Tracking Board has reported that Lionsgate has closed the rights to adapt the popular manga and anime Naruto into a live-action film.

So far, the only thing that is known is that Lionsgate is currently in talks with Michael Gracey to direct the movie. There is still not information on a possible release date, Masashi Kishimoto’s role or even the main storyline. Fans already discussing whether the movie should focus on a non-canon side-story or whether it should try to adapt the canon material, which could be incredibly complicated considering the manga is 700 chapters long.

This is not the first time that Hollywood digs into the Japanese media to release a live-action film. There was Dragonball: Evolution in 2009 and we all know how that went (NOT good). There is also a Ghost in the Shell movie coming out in 2017, which could give us some clue on whether Hollywood is getting any better at adapting Japanese manga or if we are going to continue cringing everytime we see news like this. Adapting manga into live-action movies is something that Japan has been doing for a while: Death Note, NANA, Ao Haru Ride or the soon-to-be-released Attack on Titan. Although some would not like Hollywood getting their hands on manga, the truth is that it would bring a lot of exposure to a lot of stories that many people could have missed otherwise.

What do you think? Could this movie be good or is it going to flop?

Check out anime like NARUTO.