I can honestly say I did not see this comin’ today. Like… at all.
Earlier today, The Hollywood Reporter, er, reported that Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot are teaming up to produce a live-action Hollywood adaptation of Your Name. Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams (Star Trek 2009, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) and Lindsey Weber will produce the feature with original anime producer Genki Kawamura.
Eric Heisserer, who won an Academy Award for Arrival in 2016, will pen the film’s script. TOHO, Bad Robot, and Paramount will share production duties, while TOHO will distribute the movie in Japan.
Makoto Shinkai, who wrote and directed the original Your Name., commented on the adaptation:
your name. is a film created with the innate imaginations of a Japanese team and put together in a domestic medium. When such a work is imbued with Hollywood filmmaking, we may see new possibilities that we had been completely unaware of. I am looking forward to the live-action film with excited anticipation.
Genki Kawamura also released a statement on the news:
Until I met with the people from Bad Robot, I thought this was just a dream, but it seems it’s the real thing now. I can’t think of a better team to bring your name. to a rebirth than J. J. Abrams and his team. And Arrival, which Eric Heisserer wrote, was one of the most moving sci-fi films I’ve seen in recent years. I believe that Eric will depict the climax of your name., which mixes science fiction and a love story, in the best possible way.
The original Your Name. hit Japanese theaters in August 2016. As of press time, the feature is the fourth-highest grossing film of all time in the Japanese market. The feature is also the second highest-grossing Japanese film and second-highest grossing anime film, behind Spirited Away. The movie made its global premiere at Anime Expo 2016, and a wider North American run in April.
The feature also saw an Oscar qualifying theatrical run in late 2017. Ultimately, though, the film wasn’t selected as a nominee.
Your Name. is an original film from Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices),who directed the feature at CoMix Wave Films. Shinkai also penned the script, while Masayoshi Tanaka (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, High School of the Dead) provided character designs. Masashi Ando (Spirited Away, Paprika) served as animation director on the project.
Funimation currently holds the rights to Your Name. They describe the film as:
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.
When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
