The live-action Naruto movie has found its director and writer, and it’s someone with previous experience in the action genre.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit has reported that the live-action Naruto movie will be helmed and written by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. A previous report had The Witcher: Blood Origin Tasha Huo attached to write, though it’s currently unclear if Huo is still involved with the project.
Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto gave his approval to the directing choice and released a statement praising the filmmaker.
“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,” Kishimoto stated. “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 Naruto. 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.”
In addition to writing and directing, Cretton will produce the live-action manga adaptation through his company Hisako alongside Jeyun Munford. Other producers on the film include Arad Productions’ Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu, as well as Jeremy Latcham.
What is Naruto about?
Naruto is a manga and anime series that was created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga made its debut in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in September of 1999 and ran until November 2014.
The series follows the adventures of a young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki as he strives to become Hokage — the leader of his village — while battling enemy ninja and containing the powerful nine-tailed fox demon within himself. The series attained massive popularity around the world and has gone on to spawn several movies, video games, a wide range of merchandise, and more.
