Live-Action Naruto Movie Gets Major 2027 Release Update as Sony Joins Lionsgate

Believe it! The live-action Naruto movie has its head down for a ninja run as it sprints towards coming to fruition. The adaptation of the immensely popular manga and anime series has been in the works at Lionsgate for some time, and now it has a major distributor as a production partner, and a production start date that might be sooner than you think.

So far, most information about the film is being kept safely in the Forest of Death. Destin Daniel Cretton, no stranger to martial arts after helming the 2021 MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, will both write and direct the film. May December star Charles Melton is the only cast member so far; he'll play ninja master Kakashi Hatake in the movie. The production is now looking for candidates to play the title character, a novice ninja trainee who also happens to be the human host for the ferocious nine-tailed fox that once terrorized the Hidden Leaf Village he calls home.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has the news that Sony will partner with Lionsgate on the film, following a competitive bidding process that involved multiple studios. That will reunite the studio with Cretton, who helmed their $2.5 billion USD blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day last summer. Cretton has an overall deal with the studio, as well. There's a great potential for synergy here, as Sony owns Crunchyroll, the largest anime distributor in North America. The film will be produced by Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu for Arad Productions, with Cretton and Jeyun Munford producing for Hisako.

What's Next for Destin Daniel Cretton?

Still basking in the glory of Brand New Day's box-office web-slinging, Cretton is next set to helm a big-screen adaptation of Hawaii Five-O, the classic Honolulu-set action drama; it's a project dear to Cretton's heart, as he's a native of the Aloha State. He's also being courted by Sony and Disney to direct a Brand New Day sequel, the fifth in their series of Tom Holland Spider-Man movies. However, one project of his won't be moving forward; despite being renewed for a second season, the satirical Hollywood superhero series Wonder Man was swiftly un-renewed after a series of cuts at Disney.