Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto is now in the works on a new live-action movie, and it’s gotten a surprising shake up due to everything now happening with DC Studios following the Warner Bros. and Paramount merger. The recent Skydance merger came with the surprising reveal that DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran were going to be stepping down soon, and there are still lots of other elements going to be explored in the immediate fallout. As it turns out, Naruto is one of the films caught in the wake.
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With Gunn and Safran stepping down, it was announced that former Marvel executive Jeremy Latcham would be taking their place as the new president and CEO of DC Studios. Latcham had a lot of other projects in the works as and is now working at “untangling” himself from his current works such as the new Naruto live-action movie now in development with Lionsgate and Sony Pictures. But it’s yet to be revealed how this will ultimately impact the project
Naruto’s new live-action movie is currently slated to start production in Spring 2027 with Lionsgate overseeing its domestic release and production along with Sony Pictures (who are co-financing the film) handling its worldwide launch. Latcham had been previously attached as one of the film’s producers alongside writer and directer Destin Daniel Cretton and Jeyun Munford through Hisako with Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu of Arad Productions. Given that the film has yet to start production it’s likely not going to result in too big of a change, but that ultimately remains to be seen.
As for what has been revealed about the new Naruto live-action movie thus far, Charles Melton has reportedly signed onto the project as Kakashi Hatake. A worldwide casting search had been launched earlier this year for Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Harada, but no official casting has been revealed as of this time. Cretton has been open about the fact that he had been working closely with original series creator Masashi Kishimoto, but it’s unclear what the loss of potential transition of one of its producers will mean for the final end result at this point.
Will This Harm Naruto’s Live-Action Movie?
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While it’s not clear how much Latcham’s influence will impact the upcoming Naruto live-action movie, it’s not likely that the project will be too impacted by the loss of a single producer. There are still many other names attached to it as it heads into development, and Lionsgate and Sony Pictures are investing in quite a lot to making it happen. It’s possible that the loss of yet another potential dissenting voice in room could even streamline the creative process for a better result. But the alternative could be just as true as well.
Destin Daniel Cretton has shared some special new messages for Naruto’s live-action movie debut through the year thus far, and the writer/director has been open about his love of the original manga and desire to bring it to screen in a big way. There are all sorts of other pressures on the new movie to succeed, and it’s likely that the loss of one producer might just be one of the smaller issues its production will need to contend with in the future. There are going to be even bigger potential issues down the line, so keep an eye on this one.
How are you feeling about Naruto‘s live-action movie so far? Will Latcham’s exit make you worry about it? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments.
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