©Courtesy of TV Tokyo. 

Tasha Huo, the scriptwriter for Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the Naruto anime, now in development, reports that director Destin Daniel Cretton is currently “doing his stuff” with the project. Cretton was acclaimed for helming MCU’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and also directed Just Mercy, The Glass Castle, and Short Term 12. The Shang-Chi film grossed more than $432 million at the global box office.

Huo is also serving as showrunner for another animated series on Netflix: Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. She was recently quoted in Entertainment Weekly as saying that Cretton was “such a cool choice because he’s going to be able to capture how nuanced and special Naruto is without getting distracted by the big world that it is, which I think could easily be done by someone who’s not a fan or someone who’s coming in for a cash payday. This is definitely a movie that comes at it from a love of who Naruto is and that character and his relationships.”

Masashi Kishimoto, who created the original Naruto manga in 1997, also gave his blessing to Cretton’s involvement, telling Entertainment Weekly that “When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto. After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for [Naruto]. In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process.”

Naruto tells the story of an orphaned, ramen-eating, spike-haired boy who aspires to become a ninja and the leader of his village, even though he has a demonic side that makes him a pariah of sorts.

Naruto’s story has already been adapted for 11 films between 2002 and 2015, ranging from Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow to Boruto: Naruto The Movie.

The Naruto anime can be viewed on several platforms, including Hulu and Crunchyroll. No release date for the new live-action film has yet been announced.

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