Ask John: Can You List the Upcoming Live Action Anime Movies?

Question:
Can you please list all the live action anime movies that will be going into production? It’s getting out of hand, and I can’t even remember all of them. Plus, you may know some that I haven’t even heard of.

Answer:
I might not be able to remember them all either.

• Warner Bros. has plans for an Akira movie to be directed by Stephen Norrington, director of Blade and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
• Twentieth Century Fox will be producing a franchise of Dragonball movies.
• AD Vision is producing the Evangelion movie.
• Threshold Entertainment will be producing a Ninja Scroll movie.
• Columbia Pictures reportedly has an Astro Boy movie in production.
• Film producer Gerald R. Molen has plans for a Lupin the 3rd movie.
• Distant Horizon Pcitures has is planning an American adaptation of Kite, to be directed by Rob Cohen.
• A Tetsujin 28 (Gigantor) movie is currently early in pre-production for Japanese release next year. There has been talk of an American Gigantor movie in the past, but that project seems to have dissolved. Likewise, in 2001 Tsui Hark announced plans to film a full CG Gigantor movie, but that project likewise seems to have been scrapped.
• Twentieth Century Fox has owned the American film rights to Battle Angel (Gunnm) for several years now but hasn’t announced any plans to do anything with the license. James Cameron has expressed interest in directing a Battle Angel film, but at the present time that statement is nothing more than a a wishful fantasy.
• Late last year French director Olivier Dahan announced plans to produce a American/Japanese co-produced adaptation of Captain Harlock.

On the Japanese front, Ryuhei Kitamura’s Azumi, an adaptation of Koyama Yuu’s popular ninja manga, is currently in Japanese theaters. Kitamura’s next film, Sky High, will also be an adaptation of Takahashi Tsutomu’s manga.

A new live action adaptation of the manga Night Head is also scheduled to open in Japanese theaters later this summer.

A new film version of Cutey Honey has recetnly been announced for Japanese release in 2004.

And not exactly a movie, but certainly in the same vein, a live-action Sailormoon television series is scheduled to premier later this year.

If we include Japanese video games:

• Japan’s Gaga Communications will be producing live action film versions of Onimusha, Devil May Cry, and Tekken.
• Impact Pictures is developing a Dead or Alive movie for American release next summer.
• In early 2001 Sammo Hung announced that he had been contracted to direct a Soul Calibur movie for release in 2002. That didn’t happen, and there’s no word on the status of the project.
• The House of the Dead movie from Mindfire Entertainment was met with horrific advance critical reviews, so the fate of its theatrical wide release seems to be uncertain.