Though the hullabaloo was about Boruto, we shouldn’t forget that Naruto is still a thing.
On Friday, a “Naruto and Boruto” stage event was held at Jump Festa. At the event, the staff announced a Hollywood adaptation of the Naruto manga is in the works. Director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) is attached to the project, and series creator Masashi Kishimoto will be involved with production.
As of press time, no further details have been announced.
Last year, entertainment news source Variety reported that Lionsgate is working on the project. Avi Arad and Ari Arad will produce the film through Arad Productions. Erik Feig, Geoff Shaveitz, and Kelley O’Malley are set to oversee production for Lionsgate.
The Naruto manga ran from September through November 2014 in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. 72 collected volumes were released, with the final book hitting retailers in February 2015.
The title spawned a pair of anime adaptations, Naruto (2002 – 2007) and Naruto Shippuden (2007 – present). Thirteen films, four OVAs, and over a dozen novel and manga spinoffs have been released to date.
Viz Media currently holds the domestic rights to both the Naruto manga and anime properties. They describe it as:
Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He’s done well so far, but Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense training that will push him to his limits. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi… well he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he also prove wiser and stronger?
