Anime heroes Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Winry Rockbell featured in English-subtitled trailer.

July 12, 2001 was the date on which the first chapter of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga was published. Ordinarily, dramatic celebrations come at round-numbered anniversaries, but the 16th was a special one for the hit anime/manga series since not only was there news of a new manga chapter, but the producers of the upcoming live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movie chose that day to release a new trailer and show, for the first time, the supporting cast in costume.

Previous previews featured shots of protagonist Ed Elric and his disembodied brother Al, but a number of other key players from the franchise will also be making the live-action leap. When the going gets tough, the Elric brothers can count on help from sympathetic allies in the State Military, including fellow alchemist Roy Mustang (played by Dean Fujioka), Riza Hawkeye (Misako Renbutsu), and Maes Hughes (Ryuta Sato), plus Hayate the dog (portrayed by an uncredited pooch).

▼ Mustang is looking a little more mature than his anime counterpart.

On the civilian front, Tsubasa Honda takes on the role of the Elrics’ childhood friend and skilled machinist Winry Rockbell.

And finally, opposing our heroes will be the homunculi Lust (Yasuko Matsuyuki), Envy (Kanata Hongo), and Gluttony (Shinji Uchiyama).

▼ Hongo seems to be establishing a niche for himself playing androgynous anime characters, as he was also Armin in the live-action Attack on Titan films.

All seven of the newly showcased performers also appear in a new, English-subtitled trailer for the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpPWHPa6w-0

While cramming the entire 27-volume manga into one feature film would be impossible, it’s still unclear exactly which Fullmetal Alchemist story arcs the movie will be covering. Early announcements indicated that Shou Tucker, an early-chapter antagonist, will appear in the live-action version, but the above trailer also shows a pivotal fight scene between Lust and Mustang which doesn’t occur until far, far later in the manga/anime’s chain of events.

Whether the yet-to-be-shown Tucker has been scrubbed from the film, or whether the live-action version will move between plot points in a very different way from its source material, is something we may have to wait until the film opens in December to know for sure.

Source: Fullmetal Alchemist movie website, press release
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