What would you change for another live-action project?

[petronka101]

It's been almost five years since Dragon Ball Evolution bombed in theaters and granted, it'll be a long time before another big studio decides to engage on another Dragon Ball related live-action project. However, given that the series has withstood the test of time, I think that a live-action movie is still a possibility, even if it takes another five years before anyone gives it a serious consideration.

So, here are my questions. Let's fast forward many years from now and assume that there's a good chance of another live-action.

1. Would the project have to be really faithful to the source material in order for you to give it a chance? or would you be willing to compromise on certain changes or adaptations?
2. If you are open to changes, what are the things you could live without? and what are the things that you think make Dragon Ball and can not be written out of the story or modified in any way?

Personally, I think that not everything on the anime or manga will translate very well on a live-action project and that there will have to be some changes. Otherwise, in my opinion, it would end up looking more like cosplay with fancy CGI. What are your thoughts?

[Hellspawn28]

I still think a proper DBZ live action movie is possible. I think we have yet to have a good DB live action film because nobody is taking the source material seriously. I don't think there's not enough people in Hollywood that likes the franchises or will respect the source material. James Wong said that he's a fan of the franchise, but he sucks at film making. That guy has yet to make a decent movie outside the first Final Destination movie. He most likely got hire to direct the movie since he's most likely the very few people in Hollywood that would care enough to make a DB movie. People like Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams, Brad Bird or any big name directors don't have the time or will care to make a DB movie.

I think Fox won't make the new DB live action movie and let their rights expire since DBE didn't make as much as they hope for. Kinda what happen with Tristar and Godzilla where Tristar let the rights to make a sequel to Godzilla 1998 die out in 2003 because they felt the movie didn't make as much as they hope for and nearly everyone hated the first movie.

[GsTvo]

To make a good DBZ's live-action movie you just need a couple of guys who have actually seen Dragon Ball. Because I don't understand how someone who says "I'm a huge fan" makes a screenplay so distance to the original story.

Also you need a couple of guys without the america's teenage dream that is: "I'm a loser, nobody sees me, I just wanna be normal" - a huge event happend - "now I'm the coolest guy, with the prettiest girl in the whole world and everybody loves me".

We already have Superman and all those "hero" movies for things like that.

[Hellspawn28]

If Fox does another DB live action movie then I doubt they will care that much for it. They didn't care for DBE at all which is why they did a awful job on marketing the movie. Every trailer and TV ad for the movie looked awful and turn so many people off from seeing the movie. The movie was lucky enough to make some money overseas because of China and I doubt they got most of their money back from marketing the movie.

Fox does not seem to care that much for their movie franchises outside of X-Men, Alien/Predator and Planet of the Apes. Even with Die Hard 5, they didn't give a shit and hire a terrible director to direct the movie.

[Kaboom]

- I'd plan for for a Piccolo-Saiyans-Freeza trilogy.
- In the first movie, find a talented young-teenager actor to play Goku. Make him 15-ish like he was during the Piccolo arc in the series, and have it be a coming-of-age story. Plan to have the same actor stick around to keep playing a growing-up Goku for the remaining movies a-la the Harry Potter series.
- Make sure the characters' personalities are true to the originals, even if the transition from comic to film demands that their circumstances and the plot must be adjusted.

- I would combine Kami, King Piccolo, and "Piccolo Junior" into a single character for the sake of streamlining his story. He comes to Earth in his youth with the Dragon Balls, is revered as a god by the population, is corrupted by them, tries to conquer and "cleanse" them, is sealed away, released centuries later, wishes back his youth, tries to conquer the world, is defeated but spared by Goku, and put on the path to redemption in the process. ...Or something like that.

- Reveal during the first movie how Goku's not of this world, but make sure in the end that he doesn't care because Earth is his home now. In the process, let that lesson rub off on Piccolo. Save the details for the Saiyan-centric second movie.
- Since Freeza will be the final big bad, make sure there's at least some hint of him in the first movie.
- Likewise, start dropping hints about the concept of the "Super Saiyan" in the second movie.

- Fiddle with the rules of the Dragon Balls to avoid cheapening character deaths. Either make reviving people one of the few things Shenlong either can't do or can only do under strict circumstances, or make it something only Porunga can do, or whatever.
- In the process, spread out the introductions of the main characters. If the death of someone (Roshi) in the first movie can be used as a bridge to introducing someone else (Kuririn) in the second, then do that. Trying to cram a dozen different "main" characters into the first movie is asking for trouble.
- For the same "don't cheapen death" reason, don't explicitly show or feature Dragon Ball's afterlife, and avoid using it as a plot device. For example, instead of having Goku die and train in the great snowglobe beyond, have him ALMOST die and use that to introduce the Saiyan healing boosts concept.

[B]

You can't do a straight adaptation and have it not look ridiculous. That's sort of the charm of DB in that it's a story that can really only be told in two dimensions. I can't remember if it was a prep shot for the film or cosplay, but there was a photo of a "true to Toriyama" Bulma with a blue wig and everything; it looked awful. The fact that I can't tell DBE from cosplay might also be telling...

In my opinion, you'd have to cheat and tell stories about the less extravagant characters. I've daydreamed about movies starring the Red Ribbon Army, Mr. Satan, and Lunch.

[petronka101]

- I'd plan for for a Piccolo-Saiyans-Freeza trilogy.
- In the first movie, find a talented young-teenager actor to play Goku. Make him 15-ish like he was during the Piccolo arc in the series, and have it be a coming-of-age story. Plan to have the same actor stick around to keep playing a growing-up Goku for the remaining movies a-la the Harry Potter series.
- Make sure the characters' personalities are true to the originals, even if the transition from comic to film demands that their circumstances and the plot must be adjusted.

- I would combine Kami, King Piccolo, and "Piccolo Junior" into a single character for the sake of streamlining his story. He comes to Earth in his youth with the Dragon Balls, is revered as a god by the population, is corrupted by them, tries to conquer and "cleanse" them, is sealed away, released centuries later, wishes back his youth, tries to conquer the world, is defeated but spared by Goku, and put on the path to redemption in the process. ...Or something like that.

- Reveal during the first movie how Goku's not of this world, but make sure in the end that he doesn't care because Earth is his home now. In the process, let that lesson rub off on Piccolo. Save the details for the Saiyan-centric second movie.
- Since Freeza will be the final big bad, make sure there's at least some hint of him in the first movie.
- Likewise, start dropping hints about the concept of the "Super Saiyan" in the second movie.

- Fiddle with the rules of the Dragon Balls to avoid cheapening character deaths. Either make reviving people one of the few things Shenlong either can't do or can only do under strict circumstances, or make it something only Porunga can do, or whatever.
- In the process, spread out the introductions of the main characters. If the death of someone (Roshi) in the first movie can be used as a bridge to introducing someone else (Kuririn) in the second, then do that. Trying to cram a dozen different "main" characters into the first movie is asking for trouble.
- For the same "don't cheapen death" reason, don't explicitly show or feature Dragon Ball's afterlife, and avoid using it as a plot device. For example, instead of having Goku die and train in the great snowglobe beyond, have him ALMOST die and use that to introduce the Saiyan healing boosts concept.

The Harry Potter franchise is also the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a dragon ball live-action project. Both stories have lot of things that can be hard to understand for new comers. But unlike DBE, the Harry Potter franchise introduced the most imaginative elements of the story at a more precise pace, making some compromises along the way, without turning the story into a high-school fic.

I agree with making some changes to the revival thing. The infamous line "death has no consequence" would be too hard to explain to new comers. Introducing this concept in a second or third movie would be a good idea for an adaptation. And there would have to be more restrictions to use it. I'd say only use it with Krillin to make the first SSJ transformation meaningful.

Though I have to disagree with killing Master Roshi. He plays an important role on Goku's upbringing and killing him would upset a lot of people.

[TenshiGokuu]

FIND GOOD ACTORS
canon theme the movie
use man of steel high budget special effects technology
MAJIN BUU attacks earth and all mightly earth military and their 40 thousand nukes effortlessly tickle him, then he turns everyone into a candy eats, and basically goku comes from the dead and defeats him.

[UltimateHammerBro]

I seriously think that the first movie should do something similar to Curse of the Blood Rubies or Path to Power: compress the first saga of DB into a new story while introducing the main characters (who would be a bit older), show how Goku and Krillin start training with Master Roshi in the final twentyish minutes, and then end it with they at the tournament, maybe battling Tenshinhan.

Then a second movie could cover King Piccolo and Piccolo's arcs, ending with Goku and Chichi happily married, Piccolo hinting that he will return someday, Kami making a remark about how not all evil has been destroyed (a la King Kai in the Saiyan Saga) and maybe after the credits, we get a glimpse of Raditz or something like that.

And then, of course, I'd do one adaptation for each major DBZ arc: Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Buu.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Oddly enough, UltimateHammerBro, that's pretty much how my idea for a series of live-action films would work too. Without going too much into detail (partially because I've still never fully thought it out), I could see a series of seven films. 1) Red Ribbon Army (with some changes to make this work as the start of course), 2) Piccolo Daimao, 3) Saiyans, 4) Freeza, 5) Androids/Cell, 6) Majin Boo, and finally (with loooootttsss of changes), 7) Evil Dragons.

[Ajay]

First and foremost, they need to understand the source material.

Dragon Ball is goofy, funny and stupid. Even during its dramatic moments, it never takes itself too seriously and that's unfortunately where things tend to go bottom up in live action. There's too much focus on the drama and not enough on the absurdity of it all.

I'm not really sure its feasible overall, honestly. Everything is just too overblown and absurd for live action - if you tone that down then you lose out on everything I mentioned above.

[UltimateHammerBro]

If there were to be a film about the Shadow Dragons, I think that it should skip everything about GT: Goku's an adult, there is no Super Saiyan 4 yet (to be revealed in the movie), and they're using the DBs for something entirely different. Oh, and explain better why Goku left (I always thought that he is, in fact, dead, despite not having a halo, and that he parted to the Other World).

If not, just think about this: Majin Buu's film ends with Goku leaving with Uub, and then you add GT's ending, maybe adding a halo to Goku.

It's up to you if you want a film based on GT (or at least the last saga) or not, but I think that GT's ending is a perfect ending to a movie series (and for the anime too).

[Hellspawn28]

I would end the movies at Freeza. The Cell saga might not work due to the time travel nonsense and Buu would never work in live action. No one would take Majin Buu seriously due to the fact that he's pink and turns people into candy.

[Gyt Kaliba]

If there were to be a film about the Shadow Dragons, I think that it should skip everything about GT: Goku's an adult, there is no Super Saiyan 4 yet (to be revealed in the movie), and they're using the DBs for something entirely different. Oh, and explain better why Goku left (I always thought that he is, in fact, dead, despite not having a halo, and that he parted to the Other World).

Pretty much, yeah. I would also think they'd want to split up the fights with the Dragons amongst other characters, to give them one final chance to shine since this'd be the last go-around for the series of films. Though I wish they did that in GT proper as it is...

[Hellspawn28]

Steven Spielberg won't be a bad choice for a DB movie. I think he could capture the feeling of the series. I always imagine if they did another live action movie then it might be done on a big scale disaster film similar to Transformers and Battleship.

[Rukura]

I say, why even touch the post-Piccolo era right away? Build up the uncanny valley, like the series did.

Start with something that the western audience can relate to previous material they're used to. Something universal to movies and shows is war, fighting a tyrant and his empire. Oh, look, Pilaf using weapons and robots to fight! Oh, look, the Red Ribbon ARMY! <- Both of those can be used for a first movie, that ends on the cliffhanger of Pilaf releasing Piccolo. Movie 2: Piccolo starts as the villain but has to join Goku to beat Raditz, cliffhanger that Vegeta and Nappa are coming. So on and so forth.

It does NOT need to be 100% line for line faithful. However, it does need to keep the same feel. Make it feel like it can belong in the same universe. Give the right hints.
I thought the Rurouni Kenshin Movie did that pretty well.

[DBZ Mick]

I wouldn't. Dragonball just doesn't lend itself well to live-action.

Do a motion capture movie ala Tintin and don't do a straight up adaptation, do something unique, I know Evolution tried this but with better writers it could be interesting.

[UltimateHammerBro]

I didn't like the idea of Goku going to HS, but I understood the necessity of making him older for the movie.
If it had been my choice, I would have made him 15ish at the start, and isolated in the forest.
And I favor the idea of fusing Pilaf and the RR. Maybe giving him Commander Red's wish?
Getting rid of the Muscle Tower and all that, and leaving the final confrontation similar to what happened in the first saga of DB.

That'd be a nice action movie with lots of comedy too. And then a second one with Piccolo, where the action is reduced. If the idea of King Piccolo-Piccolo Jr. doesn't translate well to the big screen (as some seem to suggest), why not making him amnesiac after being defeated and thought dead? He'd appear some time later in the Tournament, without knowing who he was, and he'd remember after seeing Goku. Only that the experience had changed him: he no longer wishes to take over the world, but rather becomes obsessed with Goku. That is a recurring theme in DB, and would lead to him not being as bad as before

[Super Sonic]

They're too old to do it now, but could say in their prime, I could see Ernie Reyes Jr, Austin St. John, or Dan Southworth as Goku. All three could possibly look the part and are experienced martial artists. In case anyone is wondering who I'm talking about:







On another note kinda wonder if something similar to how Scott Pilgrim was done could work, or would it just look too silly?