It's Time to do a (New) Dragon Ball Live-action Movie

[Lujin_16]

It makes me jealous to see movies like Avengers infinity war so there is no excuse that dragonball movies are not possibile to do with effects etc

Of course start first with a movie about the red ribbon army it's more easy to do and than if the movie is succesful do another one with a bigger budget..

[sintzu]

We're in an era where something like DB can be made so the issue isn't the tech as that's available, it's finding a company that believes in it and a staff that cares enough to bring it to the big screen.

When it comes to the company, we'll need one willing to invest good $$$ into a budget and marketing. When you have a big budget and good marketing, not only do you show people that you have a good movie, the marketing shows that you believe in it which will make people confident and interested in seeing it.

Next up is the writers and directors, you'd need people who truly understand and love DB, not people who are just there for quick $$$. In terms of the actors, get people who best fit the roles and can bring the characters to life.

Last but possibly the most important point, stay true to what the original manga is. Don't try to Westernize it, don't try to put your stamp on it, just make the DB people know and love. DB is good the way it is so there's no need to change it.

DB is very popular, more so than something like ant-man and black panther so If these nobody marvel characters can make millions then so can something like DB. we know for a fact that it can be done and done successfully but like anything else, it needs the right pieces in the right places.

In terms of the story, I'd start with the Saiyan arc as that's the face of the franchise right now. The 2nd movie would be about the 1st DB hunt and the 21st Tenkaichi. The 3rd movie would be all of Namek. the 4th movie will cover the RRA arc and 22nd Tenkaichi. The 5th movie will be the entire androids/Cell arc. The 6th movie will be the 2 Piccolo arcs. the final 7th movie will be Buu. That right there is a 7 film epic that if done right will make whoever billions of $$$.

[Vijay]

Jealousy is a "venom" that leads to catastrophe

Infinity War was grateful to have Russo Brothers as their directors. Also, Kevin Feige as their producer

While I agree Red Ribbon Arc as central arc for a live-action DB film, who's gonna direct?

Who's gonna be screenplay writer/storyboader?

Who's in-charge of talent-pooling actors for audition?

Above all, who's gonna be its producer?

Only a true, long-time DragonBall fan could fill those positions & even then, chances of the film to be 100% success is still uncertain: depends on direction, screenplay, acting, CGI & the adaptation has to satisfy us in order to spawn a franchise, eventually building into a monstrous climatic film (Boo Arc/Shadow Dragon Arc) as Infinity War.

Its an arduous, long process. Which is possible. Its only matter of heart.

[MasenkoHA]

So like...a live action adaptation of Path to Power?

[Forte224]

No, Dragon Ball live action just cannot work. One of the huge, huge draws of Dragon Ball is the art style. That is 100% gone when you do live action. I don't know why people want live action anime at all.

[dbgtFO]

Should be possible, just copy Man of Steel and replace the characters with their DB equivalents and you're halfway there.
That's already the Saiyan Arc taken care of.
Problem is with introducing the other characters, in the Marvel verse, it works by having all the standalone titles, so the characters can be introduced easily with their own villains and all that, but DB doesn't have that.
It's Goku and co. So you would have to cut out a good chunk of characters.. maybe Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu can be cut.

[Robo4900]

Should be possible, just copy Man of Steel and replace the characters with their DB equivalents and you're halfway there.

Sure, if you want a movie with none of the wit, charm, style, or appeal of Dragon Ball.

That's already the Saiyan Arc taken care of.

Sure, if you want to skip an entire third of the story, including some of the biggest and best emotional beats and character moments.

These two points of mine here come off a bit snarky, but there's a reason for this; a lot of people seem to point to Zack Snyder as a good one to direct a Dragon Ball movie, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. He's famous for his grimdark, nigh-deconstructionistically brutal and gritty takes on things, which does often make for good action, but the movie would not be Dragon Ball.

Problem is with introducing the other characters, in the Marvel verse, it works by having all the standalone titles, so the characters can be introduced easily with their own villains and all that, but DB doesn't have that.
It's Goku and co. So you would have to cut out a good chunk of characters.. maybe Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu can be cut.

I mean, I don't see how it's a problem. Marvel did Guardians Of The Galaxy. Hell, in Dragon Ball, both Legend Of Shen Long/Curse Of The Blood Rubies, and Path To Ultimate Power introduced the main cast while also adapting the story pretty well.

It would be an adaptation, so the filmmakers shouldn't be afraid of having to cut anyone out(I can imagine Kuririn and Yamcha being condensed into one character), though cutting Tenshinhan would be a terrible idea. How the hell would you adapt the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai without Tenshinhan?
And don't say they should skip it; if they're adapting the main story, skipping major arcs is silly. You can -- and should -- repurpose and adjust stuff(I'd suggest combining the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokais, and similar to movies 1 and 17, combine the Pilaf and Red Ribbon arcs), but change for the sake of change isn't really necessary.

No, Dragon Ball live action just cannot work. One of the huge, huge draws of Dragon Ball is the art style. That is 100% gone when you do live action. I don't know why people want live action anime at all.

No, a live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just cannot work. One of the huge, huge draws of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the art style. That is 100% gone when you do live action. I don't know why people want live action cartoons at all.

No, a movie of Lord Of The Rings just cannot work. One of the huge, huge draws of Lord Of The Rings is the writing style. That is 100% gone when you do live action. I don't know why people want movie books at all.

No, a live-action Batman just cannot work. One of the huge, huge draws of Batman is the variety of art styles and the serialised storytelling. That is 100% gone when you do live action. I don't know why people want live action comics at all.

So like...a live action adaptation of Path to Power?

Honestly, I'd love that. And... To be honest, if a live action Dragon Ball movie was considered, that'd be the ideal example to look at for how to do a Dragon Ball movie.
Hell, they could probably juse use that film as their first draft for a script, and then they'd be on their way to an awesome live-action DB movie.

I'd suggest Taika Waititi to direct.

[Forte224]

Pretty sure no one ever said any of those things, Robo.

[Robo4900]

Pretty sure no one ever said any of those things, Robo.

Until Peter Jackson got ahold of it, Lord Of The Rings was considered totally unfilmable.

The rest, I was just using as examples to point out the fact that you could take anything, and use your attitude on it to say it shouldn't be made. You're acting like literally the only draw of Dragon Ball is its artstyle. At best, you're being incredibly naive.

[Forte224]

Pretty sure no one ever said any of those things, Robo.

Until Peter Jackson got ahold of it, Lord Of The Rings was considered totally unfilmable.

The rest, I was just using as examples to point out the fact that you could take anything, and use your attitude on it to say it shouldn't be made. You're acting like literally the only draw of Dragon Ball is its artstyle. At best, you're being incredibly naive.

Acting like literally the only draw is the artstyle, when I said "one of". Mmmm-k. You're being naive if you think live action Dragon Ball could ever work. So, at worst, we're even.

[Robo4900]

Acting like literally the only draw is the artstyle, when I said "one of". Mmmm-k. You're being naive if you think live action Dragon Ball could ever work. So, at worst, we're even.

Dude, chill out. You seem to be taking a lot of offense at my pointing out how thin what you said is(Or if not, then you should take a moment to consider what you're saying; you're coming off really rude right now). If you think there are valid reasons why Dragon Ball wouldn't work in live action, say them. All you've said so far is the art style wouldn't translate.

And again, people considered Lord Of The Rings unfilmable for the longest time. People would've said you'd be naive to think a movie would work before Peter Jackson actually did it. Then he did it, those people looked stupid for a while, then everyone forgot about it.

[CriticalThinker]

I never understood the appeal of turning something animated into live action as to me it always looks terrible. And I mean we did get a live action via Dragonball Evolution and it was pretty bad. Though I do vaguely remember another live action DB movie that was done a while ago but I can't recall what it was called.

[Forte224]

Acting like literally the only draw is the artstyle, when I said "one of". Mmmm-k. You're being naive if you think live action Dragon Ball could ever work. So, at worst, we're even.

Dude, chill out. You seem to be taking a lot of offense at my pointing out how thin what you said is(Or if not, then you probably need an attitude adjustment; you're being pretty rude). If you think there are valid reasons why Dragon Ball wouldn't work in live action, say them. All you've said so far is the art style wouldn't translate.

And again, people considered Lord Of The Rings unfilmable for the longest time. People would've said you'd be naive to think a movie would work before Peter Jackson actually did it. Then he did it, those people looked stupid for a while, then everyone forgot about it.

How am I being rude? I think you may have misinterpreted my bolding of words as hostile maybe? Sorry if so, but your original response could be construed the same way, using sarcasm and sort of mocking my original post.

And, while it's not the only draw of Dragon Ball, the art style is indeed a huge part of it. So yes, I feel that not being able to translate that art style preemptively ruins a live action movie. I don't know why you're so insistent with trying to discredit my thoughts towards that by calling them thin.

[Robo4900]

I never understood the appeal of turning something animated into live action as to me it always looks terrible. And I mean we did get a live action via Dragonball Evolution and it was pretty bad. Though I do vaguely remember another live action DB movie that was done a while ago but I can't recall what it was called.

I would argue that's a matter of the approach taken.

Thor Ragnarok came out last year, and that movie was bright, colourful, and basically exuded the style and spirit of the classic '60s Jack Kirby comics in a way no one else has done in a live-action film before.

In a similar vein, I would say you can definitely get the colourful, imaginitive feel of Dragon Ball across in live-action. It's just a matter of finding the right people to do it.

Unfortunately, a lot of animated to live action adaptations have been handled by the wrong people, and it ends up either ugly, or just completely wrong.

And, while it's not the only draw of Dragon Ball, the art style is indeed a huge part of it. So yes, I feel that not being able to translate that art style preemptively ruins a live action movie. I don't know why you're so insistent with trying to discredit my thoughts towards that by calling them thin.

I'm saying that your idea that the art style is so integral, that if something can't get that right, then it's a complete garbagefire failure, is weird and silly, and I don't get why you're so strongly opposed to a live-action Dragon Ball movie. Like, sure, we were burned once. Fantastic Four fans have been burned four times, Hulk fans were burned once, Captain America fans were burned once... Now look at those franchises.

Plus, you're making out like the entire Dragon Ball style is completely impossible to render in live-action... Like, it's not. It really is not. If Thor Ragnarok can look like a '60s Jack Kirby comic, then I don't see why a live action Dragon Ball movie can't look like an '80s Akira Toriyama comic.

So yes, I do think your arguments are thin.

Hell, your main argument just a couple of posts ago was the semantic detail that the art style isn't literally the only point of appeal in Dragon Ball, and yet here you are, continuing to say that the art style is the main thing you take issue with...

[dbgtFO]

Sure, if you want a movie with none of the wit, charm, style, or appeal of Dragon Ball.

Pff, humor is overrated. Grey, moody Goku for the win!

Sure, if you want to skip an entire third of the story, including some of the biggest and best emotional beats and character moments.

These two points of mine here come off a bit snarky, but there's a reason for this; a lot of people seem to point to Zack Snyder as a good one to direct a Dragon Ball movie, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. He's famous for his grimdark, nigh-deconstructionistically brutal and gritty takes on things, which does often make for good action, but the movie would not be Dragon Ball.

I'd love it just for the sheer absurdity of it.

I mean, I don't see how it's a problem. Marvel did Guardians Of The Galaxy. Hell, in Dragon Ball, both Legend Of Shen Long/Curse Of The Blood Rubies, and Path To Ultimate Power introduced the main cast while also adapting the story pretty well.

It would be an adaptation, so the filmmakers shouldn't be afraid of having to cut anyone out(I can imagine Kuririn and Yamcha being condensed into one character), though cutting Tenshinhan would be a terrible idea. How the hell would you adapt the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai without Tenshinhan?
And don't say they should skip it; if they're adapting the main story, skipping major arcs is silly. You can -- and should -- repurpose and adjust stuff(I'd suggest combining the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokais, and similar to movies 1 and 17, combine the Pilaf and Red Ribbon arcs), but change for the sake of change isn't really necessary.

Good point of GotG. I haven't read the original comics, so I have no idea how they met up there, but it worked in the films. And yes I'm in favor of skipping it all and just somehow starting in the Saiyan Arc, which of course would be quite the problem, but may just be possible.

[Robo4900]

Pff, humor is overrated. Grey, moody Goku for the win!

Haha. I take it you were a fan of the Black arc, then.

I'd love it just for the sheer absurdity of it.

Hm. Actually, that would be a good laugh.

Good point of GotG. I haven't read the original comics, so I have no idea how they met up there, but it worked in the films. And yes I'm in favor of skipping it all and just somehow starting in the Saiyan Arc, which of course would be quite the problem, but may just be possible.

I haven't read the comics either. But, ultimately, the point is that they make a good movie, not that they're 100% accurate to the source material, so whatever they have to do to make a good Dragon Ball movie, I'm in support of it.

But no, I still think skipping to Raditz is dumb. You'd be tossing out a third of the story just so you can skip to the more action-heavy bit. Plus, Piccolo's character arc would be nonsense. As kids, we were all good to accept Piccolo just appearing and being an already-established villain, but the average moviegoer would be like "who the hell is this green guy, and why should i care that he wants to help this guy fight shadow the hedgehog?"
Movies are all about economy of language, you can't stand around and spend 30 episodes building up who Piccolo is, and examining his growing friendship with Gohan, so you really wouldn't have time to establish who Piccolo is, and show his character growing if you're starting this cold, and you have to introduce Goku, Gohan, Kuririn, Vegeta, etc. too; you have to cut to the chase, so to speak. To give all the characters their proper introductions in one movie starting from Raditz, the movie would have to be like 3 hours long, or more. It'd be a slog.

Plus, if the movies gonna end up big, why would you shoot yourself in the foot and skip at least 3 movies' worth of material?

[Forte224]

I never understood the appeal of turning something animated into live action as to me it always looks terrible. And I mean we did get a live action via Dragonball Evolution and it was pretty bad. Though I do vaguely remember another live action DB movie that was done a while ago but I can't recall what it was called.

I would argue that's a matter of the approach taken.

Thor Ragnarok came out last year, and that movie was bright, colourful, and basically exuded the style and spirit of the classic '60s Jack Kirby comics in a way no one else has done in a live-action film before.

In a similar vein, I would say you can definitely get the colourful, imaginitive feel of Dragon Ball across in live-action. It's just a matter of finding the right people to do it.

Unfortunately, a lot of animated to live action adaptations have been handled by the wrong people, and it ends up either ugly, or just completely wrong.

And, while it's not the only draw of Dragon Ball, the art style is indeed a huge part of it. So yes, I feel that not being able to translate that art style preemptively ruins a live action movie. I don't know why you're so insistent with trying to discredit my thoughts towards that by calling them thin.

I'm saying that your idea that the art style is so integral, that if something can't get that right, then it's a complete garbagefire failure, is weird and silly, and I don't get why you're so strongly opposed to a live-action Dragon Ball movie. Like, sure, we were burned once. Fantastic Four fans have been burned four times, Hulk fans were burned once, Captain America fans were burned once... Now look at those franchises.

Plus, you're making out like the entire Dragon Ball style is completely impossible to render in live-action... Like, it's not. It really is not. If Thor Ragnarok can look like a '60s Jack Kirby comic, then I don't see why a live action Dragon Ball movie can't look like an '80s Akira Toriyama comic.

So yes, I do think your arguments are thin.

Well, I didn't use the term "garbagefire fail" for one, please don't put words in my mouth. And I'm not strongly opposed either, I simply voted "no" and explained why. Thor Ragnarok and comic book movie adaptations are a completely different thing. Their art styles are more (notice my use of the word "more", not "completely") similar to and detailed like we expect people to look in real life, therefore adapting that to live action will always be easier. If they want to make Dragon Ball live action movies, hey, go for it. Make a whole trilogy or all 444 episodes, I don't care. Its existence doesn't bother me in the slightest.

But, it won't work. It never has and it never will. At best it'll turn out like those really bad live action YouTube short films (except with a higher budget) where it's all dark and depressing and focuses on "Wow, look at how cool that Kamehameha looks you guys rock!!" while completely removing the humor and simplicity Dragon Ball is known for. They'd be better off creating a movie inspired by things like Dragon Ball while making it their own thing in the process.

[MasenkoHA]

Should be possible, just copy Man of Steel and replace the characters with their DB equivalents and you're halfway there.
.

Man of Steel was gawd awful just like everything Goyer and Snyder touch so no lol no

[ssjgbunnyman]

I think Dragon Ball is deserving of another shot at Live Action, but this time done with effort. With the franchise being at in a second renaissance, so to speak, now is as good a time as ever to consider starting over.

I like the idea of starting with the RR Army arc as that arc, imo, is early DB's best and most underrated arc, barring Piccolo Daimao.

[coola]

It could work, but, I'm afraid of another Evolution or Death Note (I heard Ghost In The Shell was pretty good, but, fans lost their s.it because of Johansson and boycott film)