Is a good live-action remake of an anime possible? On the Hollywood side of things, the track record is pretty spotty. For every Speed Racer (which, to be fair, was also derided in its time), there’s Dragonball Evolution. Or Ghost in the Shell. Okay, it’s a pretty bad track record, at least compared to the slate of pretty good anime adaptations that the Japanese film industry has to its name (Battle Royale, Alice in Borderland, Rurouni Kenshin, and Blade of the Immortal, to name a few). So whenever Hollywood has its eyes on a big-name anime, it’s always cause for concern. But perhaps director Destin Daniel Cretton can turn that reputation around.
It was recently reported that Cretton has been tapped to direct a live-action remake of Naruto, the popular ninja anime that ran for nearly two decades (and has an ongoing spinoff that’s still thriving). It’s a lot of pressure on any director, especially one who joins the project after it had been in development hell for nearly a decade. In a conversation with Inverse, Cretton spoke carefully about bringing Naruto to Hollywood.
