United Talent Agency and North America's largest
publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime VIZ Media are joining forces
to develop live-action programming based on titles from Viz's extensive catalog
of manga and anime properties, which includes such massively known names as
Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Tokyo Ghoul, One Punch Man, Pokémon, Sailor Moon,
Dragon Ball Z, and many, many more.
"We are excited
to start this partnership to push the boundaries of storytelling, innovation
and character through VIZ Media’s prolific portfolio," said UTA’s Howie
Sanders, Co-Head, Book Department.
Despite Hollywood's occasional interest in developing
content based on manga or anime, it is still a genre or corner of the market
that has never been well explored, which led to such cinematographic gems as Speed
Racer, Dragonball Evolution, and Fist of the North Star.
"The UTA
partnership represents an important new direction for VIZ Media and our
colleagues in Japan," says Brad Woods, Chief Marketing Officer of VIZ
Media. "Bringing the rich stories of manga and anime to life in new ways
is an exciting opportunity with tremendous potential. UTA is an innovator that
shares our vision, and their proven track record and strong relationships
throughout the domestic and international entertainment sectors will be
important factors as we move forward."
There are a couple of
movies currently being develop that have the potential to open the doors to more
movies or shows based or adapted from manga and anime. DreamWorks is working on
Ghost in the Shell and Warner Bros. is tackling Death Note.
In 2014, Doug Liman directed
an adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's sci-fi novel All You Need Is Kill titled
Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, which was great, but a
botched marketing campaign helped the movie fail in reaching a wide audience, as
it should have.
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