Ask John: Are There Plans for a Shaman King Movie?

Question:
Is it true that Shaman King will have a movie release? I read some random rumors saying there would be a movie, and the name FUNimation was thrown in there somewhere.

Answer:
We haven’t heard of any plans in Japan for a Shaman King movie, and as far as we’re aware, there are no rumors of plans for a Shaman King movie in the Japanese fan community. The Japanese Moon Phase website which lists all known, announced, and rumored upcoming anime productions, does not list anything for Shaman King. The Shaman King TV series ended in Japan two years ago, so the odds are that if a movie was going to be produced for Japanese release, it would already have been completed and released by now.

It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that a Shaman King feature could be produced for American release, but this doesn’t seem like a very likely possibility, especially in light of the failure of the Yu-Gi-Oh movie. The 2004 Yu-Gi-Oh motion picture was produced in Japan specifically for American release. In fact, this second Yu-Gi-Oh movie isn’t even being released in Japan. But perhaps because the Yu-Gi-Oh movie was created by Japanese artists trying to create a film that would appeal to American viewers, the movie ended up being possibly the worst reviewed film released in America this year. According to RottenTomatoes’ poll of national critical reviews of the movie, it scored a mere 2% out of a possible 100%. Such a dismal showing ought to cause potential American investors to reconsider the viability of commissioning a Japanese produced film for exclusive American release.