"Live Action Dragon Ball Z Movie"

[Hellspawn28]

As bad as DBE was, at least they try to build things up by starting off with Piccolo. Have the Saiyans show up for the third or forth movie instead.

[JulieYBM]

As bad as DBE was, at least they try to build things up by starting off with Piccolo. Have the Saiyans show up for the third or forth movie instead.

You can pull the Saiyans off in a second movie. Gokuu saving the world in the first movie and then having to fight aliens in the second is a more natural transition than waiting one or two more films.

[MasenkoHA]

As bad as DBE was, at least they try to build things up by starting off with Piccolo. Have the Saiyans show up for the third or forth movie instead.

Evolution is crap but combining the first arc with the Daimao arc was a good idea. Some of Evolution’s ideas were good like making Bulma want fame and fortune instead of a boy toy and keeping Roshi’s perversion in check.

[Jaetinh]

As bad as DBE was, at least they try to build things up by starting off with Piccolo. Have the Saiyans show up for the third or forth movie instead.

Saiyans showing up during the fourth movie is definitely something I agree on. Personally I always imagined a live action saga to be made up of seven films, telling the story of Toriyama's 42 volumes.

The first movie would have Tao Pai Pai as the main villain (Donnie Yen anyone?)
Second movie - Piccolo Daimao
Third movie - Piccolo Jr
Fourth - Vegeta
Fifth - Freeza
Sixth - Cell
Seventh - Boo

[WittyUsername]

If Fox had made a trilogy like they claimed they were going to do, I imagine the second one would’ve been about the Saiyans, while the third one would’ve had Freeza as the villain. Of course, I’m not really sure how they would’ve handled Gohan. They would presumably have to age him up, but that would have to mean that the second film would take place many years after the first one. Then again, maybe they would’ve just had Gohan be a baby who wouldn’t do anything in the story.

[Anonymous Friend]

As bad as DBE was, at least they try to build things up by starting off with Piccolo. Have the Saiyans show up for the third or forth movie instead.

Saiyans showing up during the fourth movie is definitely something I agree on. Personally I always imagined a live action saga to be made up of seven films, telling the story of Toriyama's 42 volumes.

The first movie would have Tao Pai Pai as the main villain (Donnie Yen anyone?)
Second movie - Piccolo Daimao
Third movie - Piccolo Jr
Fourth - Vegeta
Fifth - Freeza
Sixth - Cell
Seventh - Boo

You really want people to wait through three movies before we get to Vegeta? Start the series of with someone most DB fans in the west don't know, and do Piccolo for two movies?

While I could be down for your plan, that's definite set up to fail for most other people.

And unless they decide to keep filming continually, there's a two year wait for each movie. And most of that is do work on the special effects.

A Dragonball movie could be done. We have so many fan vids out there doing really good work. And some of them getting legit work in Hollywood.

[Jaetinh]

Most DB fans in the west? The west doesn't revolve around USA and English speaking countries. A lot of European and Latin American countries started out with Dragon Ball, either through the anime or the manga. Dragon Ball didn't sell almost 260 million volumes worldwide by selling volume 17-42. Since a majority of people on this forum are from the US, I believe you guys tend to underestimate how known Dragon Ball actually is in other countries.

[jjgp1112]

At this point I just assume everyone who wants to rush to the Saiyans probably worked for Warner Bros' DC department and are now looking for emloyment.

[WittyUsername]

Starting off with Tao Pai Pai doesn’t make much sense to me. He’s just a mercenary. You could maybe do the Red Ribbon Army, but I will echo the sentiment that starting off with Piccolo is the most pragmatic way to go.

[MyVisionity]

Nah Piccolo is a finisher. Let him come in at the end of a trilogy after some build up.

[JulieYBM]

The Red Ribbon Army works because it can serve as a part of the setting. If the backdrop is a war between the government and the RRA then that seeds in a backdoor conflict beyond just "Blooma meets Gokuu and hunts down the Dragon Balls.!"

[NitroEX]

Nah. I can understand wanting to see DB's story in order as a die-hard fan but if you've paid any attention to Hollywood, you'd know it would never go down that way.

Realistically, they'd only be shooting themselves in the foot starting with a lukewarm opener like the Red Ribbon Army. If you've only got one chance at a big-budget crowd-pleaser, you'd start strong and show off Saiyan arc imagery at the very least in order to get the nerds salivating. If that's successful then you'd get to greenlight your Piccolo origin spin-off as well as a Kid Goku prequel movie (or set of movies) similar to the Hobbit franchise.

Oh, and I'd expect about as much accuracy as an MCU movie (that is, probably not a whole lot).

[ABED]

Nah. I can understand wanting to see DB's story in order as a die-hard fan but if you've paid any attention to Hollywood, you'd know it would never go down that way.

Realistically, they'd only be shooting themselves in the foot starting with a lukewarm opener like the Red Ribbon Army. If you've only got one chance at a big-budget crowd-pleaser, you'd start strong and show off Saiyan arc imagery at the very least in order to get the nerds salivating. If that's successful then you'd get to greenlight your Piccolo origin spin-off as well as a Kid Goku prequel movie (or set of movies) similar to the Hobbit franchise.

Oh, and I'd expect about as much accuracy as an MCU movie (that is, probably not a whole lot).

Why does the budget have to be big from the jump?

[NitroEX]

Why does the budget have to be big from the jump?

Because of the type of film it would need to be. Martial arts stunts, heavy special effects and superhero spectacle are what general audiences would expect from it, which usually pushes it into the 80 to 100 million dollar range if they're taking it seriously. Unless the movie is done entirely in Asia, the budget would be at least double that of Evolution (somewhere in the 60 million dollar range). You can't expect it to be a comedy for kids (like Sonic the Hedgehog) as that won't satisfy most people (and even Sonic was around 80-90 million).

There are films that fall below 60 million but they're not the type of genre or market that a Dragon Ball movie would be aiming for. They would want to turn this into a franchise that attracts both nostalgic adults and children, to me that screams mass-market blockbuster.

[jjgp1112]

Why does the budget have to be big from the jump?

Because of the type of film it would need to be. Martial arts stunts, heavy special effects and superhero spectacle are what general audiences would expect from it, which usually pushes it into the 80 to 100 million dollar range if they're taking it seriously. Unless the movie is done entirely in Asia, the budget would be at least double that of Evolution (somewhere in the 60 million dollar range). You can't expect it to be a comedy for kids (like Sonic the Hedgehog) as that won't satisfy most people (and even Sonic was around 80-90 million).

There are films that fall below 60 million but they're not the type of genre or market that a Dragon Ball movie would be aiming for. They would want to turn this into a franchise that attracts both nostalgic adults and children, to me that screams mass-market blockbuster.

Sonic was expensive largely because the main character is computer generated. Look at a movie like Deadpool 1, which had plenty of high-octane action but actually had a pretty modest budget of just under $60 million. If we're talking Dragon Ball, it doesn't have to be excessive.

But as I've stressed in this subject before (and Kunzait in the past): Why do you guys approach these subjects like the most testicle-deficient Hollywood executives? And even then, if a DB movie is going out to a wide audience that isn't quite initiated with Dragon Ball in the past, the early part of DB was already a MASSIVE hit to begin with and only has the stigma it has in the US because we skipped straight to Z and effectively rendered it prequel status. But if you're trying to hook a new audience, it's okay to start slow and simply bank on the characters and action hooking fans. As far as a vocal minority of "WEN SAIYAN?!" people? Fuck them. They can wait. Marvel has proven that entertaining worlds will make people willing to wait for the good stuff, while DC proved that just rushing to the good stuff is a good way to fall on your ass.

[MasenkoHA]

[As far as a vocal minority of "WEN SAIYAN?!" people? Fuck them. They can wait. Marvel has proven that entertaining worlds will make people willing to wait for the good stuff, while DC proved that just rushing to the good stuff is a good way to fall on your ass.

This is apt because Marvel Studios literally started the MCU with one of their C listers because all their A and B listers had been sold off to other studios. Pre-2008 almost nobody would have said Iron Man was their favorite Super Hero and at best would recognized him from those Marvel vs Capcom games.

This idea that Dragon Ball needs to jump to Z to be financially viable is straight up ludicrous. As long as the movie is good and entertaining and doesn’t alienate fans you can do movies that focus on Goku and friends before the whole Saiyan nonsense.

Dragon Ball Evolution wasn’t panned for not focusing on Z stuff it was panned for being disrespectful to the source material and being a straight up bad movie.

[ABED]

Why does the budget have to be big from the jump?

Because of the type of film it would need to be. Martial arts stunts, heavy special effects and superhero spectacle are what general audiences would expect from it, which usually pushes it into the 80 to 100 million dollar range if they're taking it seriously. Unless the movie is done entirely in Asia, the budget would be at least double that of Evolution (somewhere in the 60 million dollar range). You can't expect it to be a comedy for kids (like Sonic the Hedgehog) as that won't satisfy most people (and even Sonic was around 80-90 million).

There are films that fall below 60 million but they're not the type of genre or market that a Dragon Ball movie would be aiming for. They would want to turn this into a franchise that attracts both nostalgic adults and children, to me that screams mass-market blockbuster.

80 million is a medium sized budget nowdays. How about not trying to get everyone off the bat and instead build good will with the audience. The hard sell is not a good idea.

[Jackal puFF]

Sure is a lot of hate for Zack Snyder here. I can't really think of anyone else who would be capable of making a live action dragonball movie.

There are plenty of directors with experience directing kung fu movies.

Visual wise, he would nail the look of dragonball.

I’ve seen nothing of his past work that indicates he would get the look of Dragon Ball. He can’t even get Superman right.

Is that why The CW superman show keeps copying him then and why so many other shows like Wandavision copying his fight scenes? Can you please tell me who has nailed a flying fight scene that can top that, thats even remotely close to dragonball I would love to know.

[Jackal puFF]

The amount of detail he goes into making a universe is unheard of.

Lord of the Rings trilogy was a more impressive and detailed world. Zack's work isn't anything all that great. DB is a colorful quirky world that typically doesn't take itself too seriously. The thing that allows us to buy into the darker and serious moments is because it has a sense of humor and it's self aware. Zack's approach is to suck all the fun and joy out of things because to him that undercuts the seriousness of it. The irony is that by sucking the humor out of it, it's unintentionally funny, but not in the good way.

If you like a movie and universe of just walking.

[JulieYBM]

Sure is a lot of hate for Zack Snyder here. I can't really think of anyone else who would be capable of making a live action dragonball movie.

There are plenty of directors with experience directing kung fu movies.

Visual wise, he would nail the look of dragonball.

I’ve seen nothing of his past work that indicates he would get the look of Dragon Ball. He can’t even get Superman right.

Is that why The CW superman show keeps copying him then and why so many other shows like Wandavision copying his fight scenes? Can you please tell me who has nailed a flying fight scene that can top that, thats even remotely close to dragonball I would love to know.

Snyder copied Teteuwan Birdy: DECODE.

Like, yeah. Hire some of the staff from Toei to storyboard the CG fight scenes if you want anime-esque fights.