James Cameron + anime = ???

[Khoi]

Well, a friend's fb status showed me this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/

I was pretty surprised, myself. Supposedly, Cameron would rather work on that than his Avatar sequel. Interesting. Sorta looking forward to this being released in theaters.

"ANIME MOVIES IN THEATERS? WHY... THIS HASN'T HAPPENED SINCE POKEMON!"

Other links:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/04/30/anime_next_big_thing/

[Lozmaster]

"ANIME MOVIES IN THEATERS? WHY... THIS HASN'T HAPPENED SINCE POKEMON!"



Spirited away says hi.

Surprised he's working on this and not avatar 2. Just to be sure, this is an actual anime this time, and not some live action DB:Evolution bullcrap, right?

[Khoi]

I never watched stuff like the mentioned above. If it doesn't look appealing to me, normally, I won't even watch it. I forgot all about Spirited Away, but like I said <-. And yeah, I believe it's all anime, no live-action crap. I've been corrected, it's live-action. ???

[Throes]

Would you buy a ticket for a big-budget, live-action anime feature?

The main character, even though it's a live action film, will be done with CG animation and will be shot in 3D using the stereo imaging system that James Cameron had been developing for his documentaries.
Do you even read the links you post?

Anyway, Battle Angel was one of my very first animes, and although I'm skeptical about it being live-action, I'm still very very curious how it will turn out. I'm hoping that James Cameron will have a little respect for the original and not butcher it to hell. Hey, it might even turn out really well, who knows.

[Khoi]

Not entirely. ^

I doubt he'd butcher it, but let's hope I'm right.

[butterfλi]

Alita is always relevant to my interest. I can see a lot of action coming from the rollerball gaems and drama from a daily life in the scrapyard but I have a feeling that they're gonna cut down on the gore and decapitations that was in the manga. Which would suck since all the drama comes from the blood and deaths.

Also,

"ANIME MOVIES IN THEATERS? WHY... THIS HASN'T HAPPENED SINCE POKEMON!"
lern2Hayao Miyazaki

[Khoi]

Alita is always relevant to my interest. I can see a lot of action coming from the rollerball gaems and drama from a daily life in the scrapyard but I have a feeling that they're gonna cut down on the gore and decapitations that was in the manga. Which would suck since all the drama comes from the blood and deaths.

If they did that, I'd complain too, man. Then again, cutting all of that would be sorta stupid. I mean, horror movies these days revolves around gore and nudity. Most of the gore is like throat-slitting (ie: Halloween I + II remake).

@Ken: I only paid attention to Pokemon and not about floating castles, okay? Hater. ;~;

[★★★★★]

Ponyo was in movie theaters a while back, no?

[Smooth Criminal]

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa143/SirPablo_The_III/Ryuji-CoffeeSpitTake.gif

Seriously? James Cameron at helm wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I'm a bit skeptical about most anime/manga that gets Americanized after SONG OF SAYA (Ugh.) and the notable flops list on the bottom link, though. Almost every western adaptation of an anime or manga to this date has been at helm by someone who honestly give two damns to see the project succeed and do truly well, with the sole exception of Speed Racer. Speed Racer didn't really fit the bill with the critics nor a mainstream audience, but I heard that it really wasn't so terrible from people who were hoping to see a good adaptation of Speed Racer than look at it as a stand-alone work. And even with a director who does care, exactly how does the director take the idiosyncrasies of anime and manga found in things like character design, environments, and faces to a realistic approach?

I just hope he did a good job with this. I've only been familiar with Battle Angel Alita in name, but seeing this movie and what Ken and Throes have had to say on the series, it looks like it's at least worth picking up. So far at chapter 5, it's pretty decent.


Bleach (2012)
Warner Bros. is bringing the massively popular Bleach series to live action. Might be difficult, with the art style and protective fan base.
Production: Callahan Filmworks
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Producers: Michael Ewing and Peter Segal

My initial reaction:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa143/SirPablo_The_III/Ryuji-CoffeeSpitTake.gif

After re-reading it twice to see if I wasn't going crazy:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa143/SirPablo_The_III/K-OnCast-Laughing.jpg


Cowboy Bebop (2011)
Inspired by popular cult series about bounty hunters in the future. Starring Keanu Reeves…
Production: 3 Arts Entertainment
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: Erwin Stoff
Spike: Keanu Reeves
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa143/SirPablo_The_III/Krauser-DemonSpit.jpg

Ugh, I was hoping that this would stay in development purgatory, but unfortunately, it seems that it really will happen. How unfortunate. I wish that this project were dropped altogether. I would never live it down if this movie gave one of my favorite series a bad name. With Bleach and Dragonball, I wouldn't care because they honestly get enough bad rep and for the movies to happen, it wouldn't really matter. Rumors I've heard is that they've totally done away with Yoko Kanno's music and any involvement from Yoko Kanno, CG animation for Ein, and Keanu Reeves as Spike. The last of which is the one that seems confirmed, and the first seems rather likely. I'm kind of skeptical of how Keanu Reeves might do as Spike.

I'd really like for Quentin Tarantino to have picked it up, though. If that had happened, this movie might have had a chance to be amazing; and from what I understand, I think he was a fan of Cowboy Bebop and even used it as reference material for the actors for Kill Bill. He would have made at least a good effort on it, and not to mention: he's Quentin Tarantino.

[Khoi]

Keanu Reeves isn't that bad as an actor, IMO. Personal opinion though.

[TøbiasBlack]

Keanu Reeves isn't that bad as an actor, IMO. Personal opinion though.

Keanu will be the death of Spike Speigal.

[Super_cyp]

What abouts Ponyo that was at the cinemas where I am. :f6: Astro Boy and Speed Racer I loved.. then again I've never wtached the original anime's of those, my brother loves Speed Racer as well xD Well I guess if James Cameron does a decent job on live action anime movies then I can't really complain o_O Avatar 2..? Sequel's.. they rarely go well.

[DrRusty]

Turning Anime into live-action doesn't really work.... Just look at the DBZ movie

[TøbiasBlack]

What abouts Ponyo that was at the cinemas where I am. :f6: Astro Boy and Speed Racer I loved.. then again I've never wtached the original anime's of those, my brother loves Speed Racer as well xD Well I guess if James Cameron does a decent job on live action anime movies then I can't really complain o_O Avatar 2..? Sequel's.. they rarely go well.

speed racer is a mixed bag. reviews say it was a lackluster movie because it was way over the top and too full of cartoony action, when thats exactly what the W. brothers wanted. they wanted to stay true to the original series, goofiness and all, and that scared people away from it.

[Smooth Criminal]

Turning Anime into live-action doesn't really work.... Just look at the DBZ movie

I'll say this again.

Almost every western adaptation of an anime or manga to this date has been at helm by someone who honestly give two damns to see the project succeed and do truly well, with the sole exception of Speed Racer.

Dragonball Evolution was a crappy martial artists flick that the director knew was going to fail, and thought "GEE, HOW DO I GET THIS TO SELL?" A lightbulb went off in his head when he realized he could attract publicity by slapping on a big name title and tossing in names from that title into his crappy movie. The movie only had very few elements of anything Dragonball at all; aside from names of characters, a title, and slightly basing things off the King Piccolo arc (Yeah, not really). Everything else was shoved aside, and "Westernized" into typical "stock characters"- with personalities being changed entirely, and them changing up the themes and spirit found in the original work in favor of this rubbish story about an angsty, weak protagonist with a bullying problem who has to overcome being an emo and save the world. That's most of why it was a flop.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejqZaXTvyL4

Even this low-budget Dragonball movie from the early 90's was far better an adaptation than Dragonball Evolution in that it was at least somewhat faithful to the original work.

That's a pretty moot example in the way you're trying to use it, but yes: turning anime to live-action almost never works because of its idiosyncrasies.

One thing these directors have to look out for is how to handle the work and bring it to reality without making it feel campy (especially in translating over character designs) and treatment of the plot. Higurashi's live-action struck me as a passable, but not really that great movie from what I've heard. It seems like it degenerates into a pretty standard fare horror, and loses the same feel that the original work has. The translation from a cute slice-of-life-esque show into a pretty intensive thriller/horror was something nice that the original has; but if it played out in reality, it wouldn't quite have the same effect and might come out as a bit campy and has to tone the work down a bit into something pretty dumbed down- which I'm betting probably happened in the movie. Higurashi also did away with all of the character designs, and everyone all seems fairly generic. Part of this is because it's awkward to see the original character designs and over-the-top kind of scenes played out in real life.

Going back to the idea Dragonball, I'd like for you guys to think how the hell you can take someone seriously with giant spiked hair like that. You'd have to make at least some adjustments so that it's realistic.

Regardless, I feel that a good anime adaptation isn't impossible. A live action Dragonball could have actually played out quite nicely if they figured how to translate over the original storyline into a well-paced, condensed form that concludes nicely and could lead into a sequel; if the movie had good enough budget and actors; and a director with good vision. With today's technology, I'm sure it'd be possible to make something that doesn't look like an awkward Power Rangers episode, and yet maintains the still cartoony, whimsical feel of Dragonball.

From what I hear, Death Note's live actions are pretty nice- though CGI Ryuk seems to really feel awkwardly placed. With a better budget, this could have gone onward and became something great.

[Lozmaster]

Turning Anime into live-action doesn't really work.... Just look at the DBZ movie

It can work, but that would require the people making the films to stop and actually think about it, and choose an anime that would make a good film. I liked the death note films as much as the anime, probably a bit more because I prefer the ending in the films, lol.

[madanthony]

I've been less frightened about Bebop since I read this:
http://www.animevice.com/news/writer-peter-craig-speaks-on-cowboy-bebop-flick/1552/
Still worried, but not as much.