Believe it! The Hollywood Naruto is finally ready to look for its live-action ninja stars.

You could be forgiven for forgetting that there was a Hollywood live-action adaptation of Naruto supposedly in the works. It’s been close to a decade since the Naruto: Shippuden anime TV series ended, and the manga’s conclusion is even farther back in the past. Even spinoff/sequel Boruto’s anime aired its last episode three years ago (though its manga version is still ongoing).

So it’d be totally understandable if you’d relegated U.S. production company Lionsgate’s announcement from 2015 that they were going to make their own version of creator Masashi Kishimoto’s ninja adventure series to that same dusty corner of your memory archives where you keep the recollections of when Hollywood producers promised that they’d be adapting Akira and Evangelion. But in a twist that feels fitting for a character who’s always reminding fans to believe in the unbelievable, it looks like the Hollywood Naruto movie really is happening, and that the production is planning to search the entire world to find its live-action Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

A statement posted on July 10 to the official Naruto franchise website reads:

As Lionsgate ramps up pre-production on its highly anticipated adaptation of Naruto, which has built a massive fanbase as one of the world’s most popular manga franchises, the studio and filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Spider-Man: Brand New Day) are launching a global casting search for the three young shinobi of Team 7: Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

The original plan was for the Hollywood Naruto to be directed by Michael Gracey, but in 2024 it was announced that he’d left the project and Destin Daniel Cretton would be stepping in to take his place. Cretton’s filmography includes two Marvel superhero adaptations, 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. With Brand New Day set to swing into theaters at the end of this month, Cretton’s schedule should be freeing up considerably, which would bode well for the live-action Naruto’s prospects of starting production in earnest.

Along with the casting search announcement, Cretton posted a photo of himself with Kishimoto, saying “it’s an honor to bring his world and characters to the big screen in live action for the very first time” and “I’m thrilled to kick off this worldwide casting search for our Team 7.”

https://www.instagram.com/destindaniel/p/DalouA2yHj9/

Kishimoto himself also sounds very excited to see the project’s wheels turning, saying:

“Right now, miracles are happening to me, one after another. My work, Naruto, is truly, truly becoming a Hollywood movie! And an even greater miracle is that the film will be directed by the one and only Destin Daniel Cretton. I still cannot believe it! If so many miracles have already come together, then let us hope for even more. I am eagerly looking forward to the miraculous encounters that will bring us extraordinary and passionate actors! I cannot wait to meet my characters in the film!”

With casting search for the core cast only now getting underway, there’s probably still going to be a considerable wait until the Naruto movie starts playing in theaters, so we might be seeing other Hollywood adaptations of Japanese IPs, like Netflix’s Persona, first. If you really need to see a live-action Naruto right away, though, perhaps photos from the Japanese stage show can help tide you over.

Source: Naruto official website via Anime News Network/Rafael Antonio Pineda
Top image: Naruto official website
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