WIth Pokemon Live Action a thing, maybe a serious Live Action DB Series could work...

[JulieYBM]

It really depends on the type of show made. Maybe a Shouwa-esque tokusatsu series? Use the Red Ribbon Army as a sort of analogue to Shocker and then make the monsters suit actors or the occasional face actor. From there you can use Gokuu, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Blooma and Chi-Chi as the main characters with stuffed animals for Pu-erh and Oolong ala Sailor Moon.

[ABED]

I'm sure they'll eventually try again. DB Evolution was following the Transformers movie principle of Hollywood adaptations ie- we're faintly ashamed of this property but we know it sells, so we'll just attach the name to a bunch of cookie-cutter cliches.

Next time would be the MCU approach- more superficially faithful (while almost certainly trimmed/"cleaned up" to fit the market) with knowing winks to the fandom. The main barrier to entry there is it would have to be a full Asian cast, and for all their courting of the Chinese market, Hollywood still ain't there yet.

Not faintly ashamed. Bay was pretty explicit about not caring about the property, which is odd because those films are so overwritten.

Regarding the full Asian cast (though a case can be made to make Bulma caucasian), it would only be a barrier for studios. I think the audience is more than ready.

[Zarely]

Such a series would be much too expensive to work.

It wouldn’t and I don’t know how you came to that conclusion.

A lot of fancy sets, costumes and all those special effects where most the action would resemble something from Man of Steel as well as the CGI for the animals and dinosaurs and flying cars. Way too expensive.

[KBABZ]

You are aware that there’s already a live action Chinese Dragon Ball movie right? It’s bad.

I always assumed that was unofficial?

[WittyUsername]

I'm sure they'll eventually try again. DB Evolution was following the Transformers movie principle of Hollywood adaptations ie- we're faintly ashamed of this property but we know it sells, so we'll just attach the name to a bunch of cookie-cutter cliches.

Next time would be the MCU approach- more superficially faithful (while almost certainly trimmed/"cleaned up" to fit the market) with knowing winks to the fandom. The main barrier to entry there is it would have to be a full Asian cast, and for all their courting of the Chinese market, Hollywood still ain't there yet.

Not faintly ashamed. Bay was pretty explicit about not caring about the property, which is odd because those films are so overwritten.

Regarding the full Asian cast (though a case can be made to make Bulma caucasian), it would only be a barrier for studios. I think the audience is more than ready.

Regardless of what Bay’s attitude towards the franchise was, comparing DBE to the Transformers movies doesn’t seem like an entirely reasonable comparison. The Transformers movies had some actual money behind them, and regardless of its actual quality, the first Transformers movie was at least pretty unique for the time. DBE was always pretty generic.

On the subject of an Asian cast, considering how notorious Disney is for their attempts to pander to the Chinese market, I wouldn’t have much trouble believing that they probably would get a cast of mostly Chinese actors for a hypothetical Dragon Ball movie. That’s a major reason why they’re doing a live action Mulan film. There’s a potential goldmine there with China.

[ABED]

And I think Transformers was better known in the US amongst mainstream audiences. That toyline was huge. Even amongst shows that were made to sell toys during that era, Transformers stood out and has stood the test of time.

[Hellspawn28]

Serious or not, if Toriyama were to be put in charge of a live action Dragon Ball film, I imagine it would probably end up being something like the Star Wars prequels, or the Fantastic Beasts movies by J.K. Rowling.

It will probably be like the Wing Commander movie all over again if Toriyama somehow directs the movie himself. The Wing Commander movie was directed by the series creator himself (Christ Roberts) and it was a total train wreck of a movie.