Destin Daniel Cretton, best known for Shnag-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has been announced to be the Director and Writer of the live action Naruto film from Lionsgate. For those unfamiliar, Naruto is one of the most popular manga series to ever to released, with over 250 million copies in circulation worldwide.
Masashi Kishimoto, author of Naruto, said the following on this announcement: “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. 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. To put it simply, the live-action NARUTO is bound to be a film with spectacular action and profound drama. I can’t help but be excited for it.”
The Producers for this film include Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu from Arad Productions, and Jeremy Latcham, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Jeyun Munford from Hisako. Bonnie Stylides oversaw the negotiations of the deal for Lionsgate.
No release date or casting has been announced at this time. Stay tuned for more information on this project in the coming months.