Writer and director of the film Shang-Chi and the legend of the Ten Wheels, Destin Daniel Cretton is making the leap from comics to manga with the project Naruto live-action movie. One of the most popular anime and manga characters of the past several decades, Naruto has appeared in numerous comic books, dozens of animated films, and a long list of video games. The Hollywood Reporter page said that director Cretton’s passion for the film adaptation is one of the first important moves in the development of this project since 2015. Destin Daniel Cretton will directly write the script and movie director.
Cretton is also working on a Shang-Chi sequel and a film based on the superhero Wonder Man. This director personally received the support of Naruto’s father, the author Kishimoto Masashi after a recent visit to Tokyo. Mr. Kishimoto will oversee the making of the film adaptation.
The Naruto author said: “When I heard them talk about Destin’s passion, coincidentally right after watching his blockbuster action movie, I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto. After watching Cretton’s other films and understanding that his forte is creating quality human films, I firmly believe that no other director is a match for Naruto. When I actually met Destin, I also found him to be an open director, willing to accept my input and that we could work together during the production process.”
Accompanying Cretton in the Naruto film project is producer Avi Arad Arad Productions, the company responsible for many properties from the Marvel universe such as Sony’s Spider-Man films, the Spider-Verse series, Morbius and Kraven the Hunter. This is also a unit that is quickly building a reputation thanks to adapting anime and video games. Arad Productions helped produce the live-action Ghost in the Shell (2017), this year’s Borderlands movie, and the recently announced The Legend of Zelda adaptation project.
