Dragon Ball Film Reboot

[CyberpunkCentral]

After watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, did anybody walked out thinking that is how a live-action Dragon Ball film should be like? Both franchises are very similar to each other. And if you know anything about Scott Pilgrim, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The humor, the fighting style, not to mention both franchises are comic book based series. I know that a lot of fans don't want to see a live-action Dragon Ball film. But whether we like it or not, Hollywood is going to give it another shot at some point. The best we can hope is for a better adaptation.

[MCDaveG]

I dunno, Hollywood, for sake of the whole pantheon of gods, should leave original creations alone and stop atempting to make remakes. In 85% of cases, remakes are in line of the worst movies, more so when adapting Korean/Japanese movies, comic books and animation.
I like the Japanese original of Dragon Ball in manga and anime and I never desired for adaptation of it by Century Fox.

[dballfan]

Either way I personally think that they shouldn't have made a Live Dragonball film. People argue well we gotta remember its live motion so its going to be very different from the anime. But that's the point you can't expect to make a good version of this wonderful manga/anime IMO.

[the_abberration]

I think the next next step in the process, is to adapt DB into a reworked T.V. series. That is, if FOX still has any involvement whatsoever with the property. They are already bringing an animated Napoleon Dynamite series (the live action was distributed by FOX Searchlight) to their Animation Domination lineup in 2012. And look how long ago the movie came out. Unfortunately for DB, it will most likely be based on the Evolution version, or otherwise so drastically different from the source, we'll end up with a bastardized version of our beloved series.

I thought hope may have lied in adapting anime (especially a "Smallville-esque" version of DB at worst/best) into American shows over here, as Starz has green lit a live action adaptation of Noir. But then BOOM, Vegeta got in the way and I heard they have changed it so much, that it's a bastard (and I had high hopes since Sam Rami was involved). So unless someone got a hold of the DB project, that had enough respect and dedication to the manga/anime, face it...we're boned!!

[dbboxkaifan]

I personally didn't like Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World except for that time that Brandon Routh made an appearance, he made it worth after all.

Chris Nolan could make a faithful Dragon Ball Z film, it would be dark, scary and somewhat in real life. His films are brilliant, Batman Begins & Dark Knight are my favourite, Inception too, I'd say.

[Son Geeko]

IMHO I think with enough imagination and thought, a live-action Dragon Ball movie could work, it just needs the right crew and filmmakers to make one that could actually entertain and please both the average moviegoer and DB fans.

I think the next next step in the process, is to adapt DB into a reworked T.V. series. That is, if FOX still has any involvement whatsoever with the property. They are already bringing an animated Napoleon Dynamite series (the live action was distributed by FOX Searchlight) to their Animation Domination lineup in 2012. And look how long ago the movie came out. Unfortunately for DB, it will most likely be based on the Evolution version, or otherwise so drastically different from the source, we'll end up with a bastardized version of our beloved series.

I don't think FOX would even go back to Evolution, considering how much it flopped at the box office....

Chris Nolan could make a faithful Dragon Ball Z film, it would be dark, scary and somewhat in real life. His films are brilliant, Batman Begins & Dark Knight are my favourite, Inception too, I'd say.

Ehhhh... I don't think Chris Nolan's style is right for DB, "dark, scary and somewhat in real life" is NOT what DB is.

His Batman films are overrated IMO

[theoriginalbilis]

I don't really have a problem with trying to make an anime into live-action, but these guys need to pick a series that would transition into live-action better. Franchises like Monster, Battle Angel, or Black Jack would work better; not something like DB.

[SSJSteve]

As long as FOX and James Wong don't go anywhere near it, I'd be happy. I really hope FOX lose the rights to the film franchise or someone buys it from them, but after the first film companies probably don't want anything to do with it.

It would be nice to see another Dragon Ball film, hopefully with a big budget, a good director and an unknown cast. But seeing as its Hollywood, it probably won't happen. If a lot of thought goes into the movie and they do their research, I'm sure we would get a good Dragon Ball film.

[KiddoCabbusses]

Hollywood hasn't even been able to produce a good movie based on a well-done, Asian-influenced TV series ("The Last Airbender", anyone?), never mind an actual Asian TV series. It's very clear that they -don't- get what makes them internationally appealing.

If anyone makes a Live Action DB, it'd be in Japan. A bunch of retro anime has been redone in Live Action to start (with mixed opinions, but yeah), so they've got experience there, and they won't have as much incentive to stray from the manga.

[funrush]

If another movie is made, Jack Black needs to play Yajirobe.

(Crappy choice, I know. But you have to admit it'd be cool.)

[Piccolo Daimao]

It would also be good if the director is an actual DB fan. Not saying that just because you're a fan of DB means you can make a good live-action DB film, but it would be a start and they'd actually understand the feel of the series and whatnot.

[dbboxkaifan]

Hollywood hasn't even been able to produce a good movie based on a well-done, Asian-influenced TV series ("The Last Airbender", anyone?), never mind an actual Asian TV series. It's very clear that they -don't- get what makes them internationally appealing.

If anyone makes a Live Action DB, it'd be in Japan. A bunch of retro anime has been redone in Live Action to start (with mixed opinions, but yeah), so they've got experience there, and they won't have as much incentive to stray from the manga.

They cancelled Arrested Development, one hilariously awesome TV series and yet dropped. "-.-"

In terms of audience it probably flopped because the viewers didn't get the jokes, however, if there were (annoying) laugh tracks then who knows if things would've been different.

I'm glad there weren't any laugh tracks, LTs ruin the series for me.

If another movie is made, Jack Black needs to play Yajirobe.

(Crappy choice, I know. But you have to admit it'd be cool.)

Yep, Jack would be cool as Yajirobe.

[SSJSteve]

I'm glad there weren't any laugh tracks, LTs ruin the series for me.

This.

A laugh track, used to remind people when to laugh. I was watching TV the other day and happened to stumble upon "Two and a Half Men", it was the start of the episode, the opening finished, Charlie Sheen walked through the door and the audience laughed. I mean, is that an American thing only? America has some good comedies, but Two and a Half Men is terrible. FOX has some good shows, Family Guy, American Dad and Arrested Development but the people at FOX can't have much involvement in them.

Anyway, back on topic.

[NitroEX]

I've always thought a Dragonball Z film would work best in the same sort of style as 300. I'm not talking about the washed out colour scheme just the green screen for the epic landscapes and the way the actors look with the lighting effects. I think that sort of style would allow them to make it very vibrant like the anime with ought it looking stupid.

[AgitoZ]

Hollywood hasn't even been able to produce a good movie based on a well-done, Asian-influenced TV series ("The Last Airbender", anyone?), never mind an actual Asian TV series. It's very clear that they -don't- get what makes them internationally appealing.

I thought the Speed Racer movie did a good job at that.

[Chuquita]

I think the project's dead and would be extremely surprised if any more live action DB were to come out of Hollywood. In my opinion, DBE turned out to be a mess from start to finish. Not to say it wasn't interesting in the same way a train-wreck is interesting. In hindsight I had thought it was going to be far bigger than it turned out being and instead it came and went pretty quietly.


The only vaguely-related semi-update news I have on it is the Whois Lookup page for their old "dragonballthemovie" url: http://www.whois.net/whois/dragonballthemovie.com
They renewed it in October, but I think they only do that because they still have the license to the property.

[dario03]

I would be surprised if anybody could ever make a good full length live action feature film based of Dragonball. At no point during any of the animes did I ever think "hey, this would be so much better with live people.". I just don't see the benefit in live action for DB's style. Even if they some how do make a decent movie it probably wouldn't have the same feel of the anime. If they do make another movie I would rather it be animated like the others but longer with a bit more of a story in it.

[Perfect]

Dragon Ball's not as similar to said series as you think. Getting the hair, costumes and make up right alone is challenging enough. Most people that dress up as Dragon Ball characters never ever get the costumes right completely. That's to say, they're usually made of cardboard or some sort of material. In reality if one were to make an accurate Dragon Ball costume it'd have have the same texture as the cartoon/comic makes it out to be. If we look at that old Korean film, well, they failed miserably. "Dragonball Evolution" also failed in this department; the costumes and hair looked nothing like they should have. I think the budget would have to be fairly high for things to work for a "true" Dragon Ball live action movie. It could work as like a 6 part trilogy or something. Hell, maybe even more than that.

[kemuri07]

Chris Nolan could make a faithful Dragon Ball Z film, it would be dark, scary and somewhat in real life. His films are brilliant, Batman Begins & Dark Knight are my favourite, Inception too, I'd say.

Look, I love Nolan as much as anyone else, but you need to realize that he has a specific directing style that does not fit the over-the-top nature of DragonBall.

Anyways, the problem with Scott Pilgrim (though the film itself is pretty great) is that there is a parodic tone that's evident throughout the movie, and the film purposely draws attention to how fake and silly its world is.

That style doesn't exactly fit DBZ because--as silly as it can be--it's a show that takes itself seriously. I'm of the opinion that the show wouldn't work in a live-action context anyways, and having a bunch of actors attempt to recreate the costumes from the show would end up looking corny.

[thedarkuniter]

Chris Nolan could make a faithful Dragon Ball Z film, it would be dark, scary and somewhat in real life. His films are brilliant, Batman Begins & Dark Knight are my favourite, Inception too, I'd say.

Look, I love Nolan as much as anyone else, but you need to realize that he has a specific directing style that does not fit the over-the-top nature of DragonBall.

Anyways, the problem with Scott Pilgrim (though the film itself is pretty great) is that there is a parodic tone that's evident throughout the movie, and the film purposely draws attention to how fake and silly its world is.

That style doesn't exactly fit DBZ because--as silly as it can be--it's a show that takes itself seriously. I'm of the opinion that the show wouldn't work in a live-action context anyways, and having a bunch of actors attempt to recreate the costumes from the show would end up looking corny.

Batman is equally as over-the-top as Dragon Ball, in my opinion. First, the usage of many different gadgets, Batman's "deep" voice, the Batcave, the Batmobile and so on. There's really not one form of media that isn't over-the-top unless it's a real-life documentary.