J.J Abrams, most notable for his work on the latest Star Wars and Star Trek films, is working with Paramount Pictures to develop a live-action adaptation of Japan’s biggest anime film of all time, Your Name (a.k.a Kimi No Na Wa).
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Abrams will produce the film alongside Your Name’s Japanese producer, Genki Kawamura, and Oscar-nominated, Eric Heisserer, who is best known for writing the script to the sci-fi thriller, Arrival, will pen the screenplay to the adaptation.
“Your Name is a film created with the innate imaginations of a Japanese team and put together in a domestic medium,” said Shinkai in a statement. “When such a work is imbued with Hollywood film-making, we may see new possibilities that we had been completely unaware of. I am looking forward to the live-action film with excited anticipation.”
About Your Name
Your Name is a sci-fi themed love story, which focuses on a teenage boy and girl from different parts of Japan who discover that they are able to swap bodies and are separated by time and space. When an impending disaster threatens one of their home towns, they must work to find a way to meet at the right moment and stop it from happening.
A full review of Makoto Shinkai’s original anime hit can be found here.
My Thoughts On This News
I’ve seen several live-action adaptations of popular anime films and TV shows be terribly butchered because Hollywood doesn’t quite seem to understand nor grasp the concept which make the anime a hit. The worst part, is that even some Japanese productions can’t quite get live-action adaptations right. Attack On Titan is one. It’s going to be interesting to see if Abrams is able to pull this off well.