Making a Dragon Ball Z Film Franchise Work

[Hellspawn28]

If it has comedy similar how BOG did then I can see it working.

[Nanotchi]

Steven Spielberg might work for a DB movie. I think his film making could capture the feel and comedy of Dragon Ball.

In all honesty I don't think that a Dragon Ball Z movie should have that much comedy.

Even in its darkest moments, DragonBall is a lighthearted series in the end.

[i'mfuckingevil]

Steven Spielberg might work for a DB movie. I think his film making could capture the feel and comedy of Dragon Ball.

In all honesty I don't think that a Dragon Ball Z movie should have that much comedy.

Even in its darkest moments, DragonBall is a lighthearted series in the end.

I know but I think cinematically it would be better without all of the lightheartedness. I'm not saying can it entirely, but should be darker, and maybe get progressively darker and darker with each film like Harry Potter did.

also, dream casting for Piccolo: Hritik Roshan


I feel like his face completely matches what Piccolo's did in the anime, at least. Just stick some fangs in his mouth.He may not be as tall as Piccolo, but he's got the physique and I'm sure they can make it him look taller via the Hagrid method.

[Bullza]

It could be done and done well but there'd be many changes. It should be a trilogy that should consist of movies based on the Piccolo, Saiyan and Frieza arc.

One movie would be enough to cover all of Dragon Ball. The Red Ribbon Army, Pilaf, Baba arcs could be cut and most people wouldn't care. There's three Tournaments and the movies should have none because it's a poor plot device.

It'd need to be made by an American studio with actors of various races, Goku would need to be white because Asian actors have pretty much no appeal outside Asia. Goku, Bulma and Vegeta would be white. Piccolo black, Krillin, Roshi, Tien, Chi Chi, Yamcha asian.

Krillin would need a nose.

They'd have to cut down on the gag humour which wouldn't work in an American movie.

The first movie would cover parts of each arc like Goku meeting Bulma, Goku and Krillin training with Roshi for a Tournament which wouldn't happen because of Piccolo showing up, Goku would have fight scenes with Roshi and Tien. The rest would play out similar to the Piccolo saga except Goku should train with Kami rather than drink a magical water from a cat.

The final fight would be like a mixture of Gokus fights with King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr as it would be best if King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr were just the one character.

In the second movie they'd need to come up with more story as the Saiyan saga had a pretty weak plot for a movie. They would have to cut out Gohan he'd never work so Piccolo would have to train Krillin.

For the final movie they'd have to cut out the Ginyu force as they'd be too silly but they could have Ginyu as Frieza's right hand instead of Zarbon who could replace Dodoria.

Cut down on the amount of fights with Frieza. Have Frieza only have two forms.

It could work.

[i'mfuckingevil]

It could be done and done well but there'd be many changes. It should be a trilogy that should consist of movies based on the Piccolo, Saiyan and Freeza arc.

One movie would be enough to cover all of Dragon Ball. The Red Ribbon Army, Pilaf, Baba arcs could be cut and most people wouldn't care. There's three Tournaments and the movies should have none because it's a poor plot device.

It'd need to be made by an American studio with actors of various races, Goku would need to be white because Asian actors have pretty much no appeal outside Asia. Goku, Bulma and Vegeta would be white. Piccolo black, Krillin, Roshi, Tenshinhan, Chi Chi, Yamcha asian.

Krillin would need a nose.

They'd have to cut down on the gag humour which wouldn't work in an American movie.

The first movie would cover parts of each arc like Goku meeting Bulma, Goku and Krillin training with Roshi for a Tournament which wouldn't happen because of Piccolo showing up, Goku would have fight scenes with Roshi and Tenshinhan. The rest would play out similar to the Piccolo saga except Goku should train with Kami rather than drink a magical water from a cat.

The final fight would be like a mixture of Gokus fights with King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr as it would be best if King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr were just the one character.

In the second movie they'd need to come up with more story as the Saiyan saga had a pretty weak plot for a movie. They would have to cut out Gohan he'd never work so Piccolo would have to train Krillin.

For the final movie they'd have to cut out the Ginyu force as they'd be too silly but they could have Ginyu as Freeza's right hand instead of Zarbon who could replace Dodoria.

Cut down on the amount of fights with Freeza. Have Freeza only have two forms.

It could work.

I think they need to leave out the Dragonball part of the story and focus on an 8-film saga containing the Dragon Ball Z story. If after 10 years this hypothetical series is successful, they could move onto Dragonball.

And guys, I think I found our Goku: Fizo Omar.


apparently he is 5'7" so they got the height right, his skin tone is a little off but I'm sure they'd have ways of fixing that onscreen otherwise I think this guy could make the perfect Goku in this hypothetical film franchise.

[Bullza]

They'd never make as many as 8 films as the box office can usually drop off after the third movie and DBZ is no Harry Potter.

Plus the actors wouldn't make that many films, they'd have to replace them which would make people lose interest and again cut box office.

8 films based on DBZ would be boring anyway. At best there'd be 4 films that'd cover the Saiyan, Frieza, Cell and Buu arcs. A lot of the material from the manga could be cut out.

One film for Dragon Ball and that's 5 films at a push.

[Fizzer]

They'd never make as many as 8 films as the box office can usually drop off after the third movie and DBZ is no Harry Potter.

Plus the actors wouldn't make that many films, they'd have to replace them which would make people lose interest and again cut box office.

8 films based on DBZ would be boring anyway. At best there'd be 4 films that'd cover the Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Buu arcs. A lot of the material from the manga could be cut out.

One film for Dragon Ball and that's 5 films at a push.

Pretty much this. And a film isn't like an episode but longer, it has to contain a complete story arc, so Z would make four films at best. At least one Dragon Ball movie is necessary to make DBZ work. This isn't the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, two separate stories with different names and different main characters - this is a single manga series.

[i'mfuckingevil]

They'd never make as many as 8 films as the box office can usually drop off after the third movie and DBZ is no Harry Potter.

Plus the actors wouldn't make that many films, they'd have to replace them which would make people lose interest and again cut box office.

8 films based on DBZ would be boring anyway. At best there'd be 4 films that'd cover the Saiyan, Freeza, Cell and Buu arcs. A lot of the material from the manga could be cut out.

One film for Dragon Ball and that's 5 films at a push.

You don't know that. I feel if they approached it the same way as Harry Potter (get the actors to understand this may mean acting in the same movies for 10 years) they'd have a massive success in their hands.

Dragonball could come afterwards like I said if the hypothetical DBZ franchise is successful. But it needs to come first and I was never big into Dragonball so I wouldn't know how to theorize a film series of it.

[Hellspawn28]

I'm fine with changes if they are done right. DBE did changes the wrong way since they made Goku into a character that we seen a million times in movies and TV shows. I guess they wanted a character that kids wanted to look up too, but kids look up to Goku before in the past without him being a high school kid.

I feel like the Cell saga should be the stopping point for the DBZ movies. I still can't see Buu working in live action since people would laugh at his character then be scared of him.

[Tenken]

This would be a waste of time. The problem is that the amount of money required to make this enjoyable for the core DB fanbase would also require the studio to pander to the mainstream.

I had a musician role in the upcoming James Brown movie "Get on Up" which I filmed in MS this past December before I moved to KC. It's directed by Tate Taylor, the guy who won an oscar for directing "The Help." With those kinds of credentials, and the general notion that this movie will probably be one of the biggest films this fall, the production is considered "low budget." It will reach more people (at least in the United States) than a DB movie could ever hope to and it won't cost nearly as much to make (as a non-laughable DB film would).

DB: Evolution was low budget (As far as these types of movies are concerned anyways). It cost $30 Million and didn't even break even in North America (it grossed around $57 Milion worldwide). Man of Steel (the best DBZ live action movie (ha)) cost $225 Million to make. If you think ANYONE is going to spend that much on a Dragonball movie when the first one made $10 Million in the US you are nuts! Studio Ghibli, the gold standard of anime films, only spends about $25 million per production. This pretty much ensures that Hollywood isnt' touching DB any time soon.

This should be obvious, but as popular as DB is around the world, it's nowhere near as popular in the US as Superman or Avengers. Even with all that, they would have to throw a big name actor in it to guarantee ticket sales (which would cost even more money). Heck, Keanu Reeves (a top tier actor, IMO) couldn't get a Cowboy Bebop movie off the ground. That makes much more sense in live action and wouldn't cost nearly as much.

It's all about dollars and this doesn't make any sense. However, when Hollywood has finished scraping the barrel for remake material this could happen. I just don't think any of us would be happy with it considering the budget it would take. We can't support a "proper" DB movie because there aren't enough of us. If there were enough hardcore fans to support the movie we would like to see, the blu-rays would be 4:3 with grain.

[dbboxkaifan]

In all honesty, I think the comedy should be kept to a minimum and that the film series should be darker and more dramatic. A running gag could be Goku's stupidity due to lack of education and have a certain character as comic relief but that's about it.

Say no more, that's Chris Nolan who you're looking for to produce a Dragon Ball Z live action film.

[Bullza]

Going by history it would almost certainly happen. There's hardly any franchise that go strong for 8 films, Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon.

Even other big franchises get hiccups that put them on hiatus until they're rebooted like Batman, Spider-man, James Bond and Star Trek. X-men has 6 films but faulted after the third so had prequels and spin offs instead.

Plus it wouldn't be made the same way as Harry Potter, they had to create those movies fast while the cast were young and didn't have to wait to see if the movie was successful before starting the next one. It could take 20 years to make 8 DBZ films.

As for Dragon Ball it wouldn't make for a great film series. Half the series is a tournament and that'd make for a terrible film. A huge chunk is the Red Ribbon Army arc which isn't what people would go and see a Dragon Ball movie for. That just leaves the Piccolo saga which would make for the most interesting film possibly.

8 films would be way too many, 4 at best would do.

[Hellspawn28]

I feel like Tenken is right. Given that DBE bombed, it will be a long time when we see another Dragon Ball live action movie produced in the US. DBE made $10 million in the US and $57,497,699 worldwide on a 40 million budget. Studios only get 50% on what they get overseas and they most likely didn't recover the amount of money that they spend on marketing. Movies need to triple of its estimated budget in order to get sequels.

I think movie studios are going to avoid Dragon Ball with a ten foot pole. I think the next live action movie won't happen until the 2020's.

[Bullza]

The film studio to make it should be Columbia pictures. Warner Bros., Universal or Disney

It should absolutely be WB, they made Speed Racer (not for cheap either), distributed a few anime adaptations in Japan like Death Note, made Pacific Rim, wanna make Bleach etc. They'd be more willing to do it justice than not Americanise it I think.

Dragon Ball Z: The Freeza Saga

A movie based on just the Frieza saga would be terrible. It would literally be fight after fight for the entire film with hardly any plot. That would never be done, they'd have to cut out many fights and put in much more story if these films were to be successful.

Frieza would fight and defeat Vegeta, Krillin and possibly Gohan. Piccolo would beat Frieza, Frieza transforms quickly beats Piccolo, Goku shows up main fight with everything else going on should take up 30 minutes if that.

Dragon Ball Z: The Android Saga

There would be no need for this movie. The Androids were an idea that did really amount to anything important and just made way for Cell. Trunks should show up and warn Goku about Cell who is the one who killed everyone and they all train to beat him. Dr Gero, 17, 18 etc just cut them out.

Dragon Ball Z: The Majin Saga

This wouldn't be interesting, it'd just be like a prologue. Forget the whole Saiyaman and Tournament thing and start with Kaioshin and Kibito showing up on Earth to ask Goku and co for help.

All of Majin Buu could be done in one film as they could take out a ton of stuff.

[Bullza]

The Majin Buu saga would never work in live action since no one would take Buu seriously. He's a pink demon that turns people into candy and other sweats.

Buu could work. They'd have to get rid of the whole Fat Buu version of the character and just start off with the more menacing Super Buu.

1. Hunt for the Dragon Balls. This would combine elements of the Pilaf and RRA sagas, like Path to Power.

A movie like that would be a failure. Most fans aren't that familiar with Dragon Ball, especially those sagas. When people think of Dragon Ball it's for the big fights, flashy moves, transformation, powering ups and people would expect that then end up very disappointed in a movie with Pilaf and Commander Red as the main villains.

The battles with Freeza's four forms need cutting down, so I would say give him only two forms or one. If he has two, then he remains in his first form until he decides he can't beat Piccolo that way, then transforms.

Agreed 100%. He'd definitely need to transform at least once though.

Besides all the bad things about this, good luck finding a 7'5" actor to play a green alien with purple pants and a turban.

Movie magic can make actors taller than they seem and he wouldn't have to be that tall. With today's technology they could just use CGI for Piccolo or Frieza like Avatar.

In all honesty, I think the comedy should be kept to a minimum and that the film series should be darker and more dramatic. A running gag could be Goku's stupidity due to lack of education and have a certain character as comic relief but that's about it.

They shouldn't be too dark it'd ruin it. It should be dark and dramatic when called for but light and fun at other times like with The Avengers. It certainly doesn't need the gag humour of early DB though.

If it has comedy similar how BOG did then I can see it working.

BOG on the otherhand was too light and not dramatic enough. Plus most of it's comedy was way too goofy that it let it down.

[DBZfan29]

I have thought a lot about a Dragon Ball film series. There are so many things that we'd expect, and it all obviously can't happen. I've tried writing treatments for fun, and while they should have a single arc being adapted, I think Dragon Ball would be done wrong if the filmmakers didn't allude to other element of the series. Here's what I've thought of so far:

- Film I: Dragon Ball
This film has to incorporate all of Dragon Ball, in a way the tenth anniversary special did. I honestly didn't like the idea of Goku being a teenager in Evolution. Not because he was in high school and was trying to sleep with Chi Chi, but because Goku is best portrayed by a child so we can see the humor there and watch him grow and mature. Anyway, I think this film should be a search for the Dragon Balls but also tie into the Red Ribbon Army. Piccolo HAS to be introduced in this film because a Saiyan arc film would not work without him.

I have this crazy idea of having the three films take place in a Trunks future frame story. That's how we get the Z fans to watch an "origin" story. Bulma is maybe healing a wounded Trunks and tells the story of the time she met Goku. At the end, Trunks asks why Goku didn't save the world. Big cliffhanger: GOKU DIED BEFORE THEY ATTACKED.

- Film II: Saiyan Arc
I really don't think the Oozaru should be in the series, but we have to have the Saiyans. It would be a pretty straightforward adaptation, but maybe some more flashbacks to the first film's time to further develop some of the characters and their actions. I think of how big The Dark Knight or Breaking Dawn or Catching Fire were. Think of that hype. That's why Z should be a sequel rather than a first film.

Maybe in a post credits scene Kuririn goes to stab Vegeta and Trunks arrives from the future to save himself and his father.

- Film III: Androids/Trunks special

A film with Freeza or Cell just can't work. That's why we skip ahead. Maybe Trunks helps them recover. The Red Ribbon Army really works as a first film because the artificial humans would bring it back full circle (like Ra's in The Dark Knight Rises).

That's really all I've got, but I think it could work.

Also, I really want Morgan Freeman to be God. Please someone make this happen.

[Fizzer]

1. Hunt for the Dragon Balls. This would combine elements of the Pilaf and RRA sagas, like Path to Power.

A movie like that would be a failure. Most fans aren't that familiar with Dragon Ball, especially those sagas. When people think of Dragon Ball it's for the big fights, flashy moves, transformation, powering ups and people would expect that then end up very disappointed in a movie with Pilaf and Commander Red as the main villains.

You could get some epic battles in that era. Even if people can't fly yet, they can leap 30 metres into the air, move at the speed of sound, throw punches that crack mountains and fire spectacular ki blasts. Goku fighting Yamcha, Goku fighting Tao Pai Pai and battles with General Blue who uses telekinesis could all feel epic and action-packed if this stuff was used properly. Goku storming the Red Ribbon HQ could be a great final battle with Matrix-esque dodging and deflecting bullets, culminating in the fight the Black's giant mecha. Ozaru is a transformation and we could still have auras when someone builds their ki to fire off an attack.

I don't think Pilaf should be involved, as I don't think he'd work. What if Dr Gero was the main villain, pulling the strings of the Red Ribbon Army? That would give the Z fans a nice nerdgasm.

Also, I really want Morgan Freeman to be God. Please someone make this happen.

Yes, Morgan Freeman should be God... And God should be the narrator.

[samuraix123]

Dragonball should never, ever, become a live action franchise. Even live action anime films in Japan tend to be terrible. Dragonball is a anime, and should remain a anime.

I agree with this so much! In my opinion(and others) Dragonball should never be made into a live action movie. or any other Anime for that matter because it simply doesn't work. Granted there could be a few out there that I'm not aware of THAT'S AMAZING! but so far I have yet to see it. I think the best one that I have seen thus far would be the new Rurouni Kenshin movie. Now that was pretty awesome! BUT! I'd rather just watch the Anime.

[i'mfuckingevil]

I feel like the Cell saga should be the stopping point for the DBZ movies. I still can't see Buu working in live action since people would laugh at his character then be scared of him.

that looks pretty creepy to me man
also Voldemort didn't look scary in the HP movies, he looked kinda awkward I guess but his look didn't care me.

This would be a waste of time. The problem is that the amount of money required to make this enjoyable for the core DB fanbase would also require the studio to pander to the mainstream.

I had a musician role in the upcoming James Brown movie "Get on Up" which I filmed in MS this past December before I moved to KC. It's directed by Tate Taylor, the guy who won an oscar for directing "The Help." With those kinds of credentials, and the general notion that this movie will probably be one of the biggest films this fall, the production is considered "low budget." It will reach more people (at least in the United States) than a DB movie could ever hope to and it won't cost nearly as much to make (as a non-laughable DB film would).

DB: Evolution was low budget (As far as these types of movies are concerned anyways). It cost $30 Million and didn't even break even in North America (it grossed around $57 Milion worldwide). Man of Steel (the best DBZ live action movie (ha)) cost $225 Million to make. If you think ANYONE is going to spend that much on a Dragonball movie when the first one made $10 Million in the US you are nuts! Studio Ghibli, the gold standard of anime films, only spends about $25 million per production. This pretty much ensures that Hollywood isnt' touching DB any time soon.

This should be obvious, but as popular as DB is around the world, it's nowhere near as popular in the US as Superman or Avengers. Even with all that, they would have to throw a big name actor in it to guarantee ticket sales (which would cost even more money). Heck, Keanu Reeves (a top tier actor, IMO) couldn't get a Cowboy Bebop movie off the ground. That makes much more sense in live action and wouldn't cost nearly as much.

It's all about dollars and this doesn't make any sense. However, when Hollywood has finished scraping the barrel for remake material this could happen. I just don't think any of us would be happy with it considering the budget it would take. We can't support a "proper" DB movie because there aren't enough of us. If there were enough hardcore fans to support the movie we would like to see, the blu-rays would be 4:3 with grain.

Tate Taylor didn't get an Oscar for The Help. And the Kai blu rays are 4:3 with grain! Well look at this way, Dragonball, the source material, sold 230 million copies. That's half the amount that the HP books sold, and it's after all the movie hype. With sales as strong as that, I feel like a daring and smart enough director would know how to make the blockbuster.

In all honesty, I think the comedy should be kept to a minimum and that the film series should be darker and more dramatic. A running gag could be Goku's stupidity due to lack of education and have a certain character as comic relief but that's about it.

Say no more, that's Chris Nolan who you're looking for to produce a Dragon Ball Z live action film.

You're right! Why did I not realize that earlier? lol the only comic relief character I can think of in the Batman trilogy is Alfred.

I'm not sure if Nolan can resist keeping it Americanized though. Ra's al Ghul's actor was not Arab, although I guess it was hinted at in DKR with the Moroccan chanting. However the entire time they were pronouncing his name wrong anyway.

Also Bane wasn't kept Hispanic at all. I mean his character is half white and half Hispanic but the point is he grew up in a Spanish setting so he was supposed to have a Spanish accent and I guess both Nolan and Tom Hardy didn't care to change his voicing dialect.

on the contrary though, I think the LOTR films were kept in the manner I am talking about as well; it seemed serious to me most of the time and there were a few characters who gave off comic relief but it was always appropriate so Peter Jackson would be great.

Even the last few HP movies, starting I guess from the middle to the 5th-7th/8th parts. So David Yates might have been good as well.

Going by history it would almost certainly happen. There's hardly any franchise that go strong for 8 films, Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon.

Even other big franchises get hiccups that put them on hiatus until they're rebooted like Batman, Spider-man, James Bond and Star Trek. X-men has 6 films but faulted after the third so had prequels and spin offs instead.

Plus it wouldn't be made the same way as Harry Potter, they had to create those movies fast while the cast were young and didn't have to wait to see if the movie was successful before starting the next one. It could take 20 years to make 8 DBZ films.

As for Dragon Ball it wouldn't make for a great film series. Half the series is a tournament and that'd make for a terrible film. A huge chunk is the Red Ribbon Army arc which isn't what people would go and see a Dragon Ball movie for. That just leaves the Piccolo saga which would make for the most interesting film possibly.

8 films would be way too many, 4 at best would do.

Harry Potter went for 8 films because the novels had almost that many parts.

And honestly with Batman, I think it is very hard to tell if TDK would have been as huge a success as it was if it wasn't for the Ledger hype. BB did not do nearly as good as it did, BB wasn't as good as TDK but I still thought it was a very enjoyable movie/origin story. But I think the films should be carried out in the same similar fashion, as I guess you can call the deathly hallows effect, how certain films split up the final part to their franchise like Twilight and Hunger Games and even Hobbit actually.

But the point is all those films are filmed as one movie like LOTR was, and that's how the DBZ franchise should be and that's why the first film should be treated like the Philosopher's Stone; make it clear to the main cast that they're basically getting into a (God willing) 8-picture deal contract that will basically be making one whole movie, most of the time.

I feel like Tenken is right. Given that DBE bombed, it will be a long time when we see another Dragon Ball live action movie produced in the US. DBE made $10 million in the US and $57,497,699 worldwide on a 40 million budget. Studios only get 50% on what they get overseas and they most likely didn't recover the amount of money that they spend on marketing. Movies tend to triple of its estimated budget in order to get sequels.

I think movie studios are going to avoid Dragon Ball with a ten foot pole. I think the next live action movie won't happen until the 2020's.

What?! How is it that studios only get 50% of their overseas revenue?

The film studio to make it should be Columbia pictures. Warner Bros., Universal or Disney

It should absolutely be WB, they made Speed Racer (not for cheap either), distributed a few anime adaptations in Japan like Death Note, made Pacific Rim, wanna make Bleach etc. They'd be more willing to do it justice than not Americanise it I think.

I do think WB would do a good job, but Columbia would too since at their core they are Japanese.

Dragon Ball Z: The Freeza Saga

A movie based on just the Freeza saga would be terrible. It would literally be fight after fight for the entire film with hardly any plot. That would never be done, they'd have to cut out many fights and put in much more story if these films were to be successful.

Freeza would fight and defeat Vegeta, Krillin and possibly Gohan. Piccolo would beat Freeza, Freeza transforms quickly beats Piccolo, Goku shows up main fight with everything else going on should take up 30 minutes if that.

I'm glad you brought this up because it shows just how much this hypothetical franchise could learn from HP.

The Freeza saga would be split up into two sagas, Namek and Frieza, with Namek essentially being the buildup to the Frieza. Like I said with my OP, Namek would be basically arriving on Namek to Freeza finding Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin. Freeza would be Vegeta fighting him all the way to whipped Goku asking ChiChi to let Gohan train with him for the androids.

Dragon Ball Z: The Android Saga

There would be no need for this movie. The Androids were an idea that did really amount to anything important and just made way for Cell. Trunks should show up and warn Goku about Cell who is the one who killed everyone and they all train to beat him. Dr Gero, 17, 18 etc just cut them out.

going along with the last quote, the Android saga would be build up the the Cell saga.

Look, I want the whole story told as much as possible.

Dragon Ball Z: The Majin Saga

This wouldn't be interesting, it'd just be like a prologue. Forget the whole Saiyaman and Tournament thing and start with Kaioshin and Kibito showing up on Earth to ask Goku and co for help.

All of Majin Buu could be done in one film as they could take out a ton of stuff.

Oh boy this would be VERY interesting as this would be where we see Majin Vegeta. It was a fan favorite in the anime.

Dragonball should never, ever, become a live action franchise. Even live action anime films in Japan tend to be terrible. Dragonball is a anime, and should remain a anime.

I agree with this so much! In my opinion(and others) Dragonball should never be made into a live action movie. or any other Anime for that matter because it simply doesn't work. Granted there could be a few out there that I'm not aware of THAT'S AMAZING! but so far I have yet to see it. I think the best one that I have seen thus far would be the new Rurouni Kenshin movie. Now that was pretty awesome! BUT! I'd rather just watch the Anime.

And why should animes not be turned into live action franchises? They are comic books turned cartoons, and there have been plenty of comic books turned cartoons turned very successful films!

[dario03]

I'm not a fan of making a live action movie but if I was doing one I would just make it a continuation of DBZ. Not a retelling but basically just a live action movie like BOG (but not a BOG remake). It would assume that you are already some what familiar with the stories but have a quick recap at the beginning of the movie. Would have a whole new bad guy and it would basically just be a big budget summer special effects action movie. Or if a continuation wouldn't work I would just do a full on reboot where things went very differently. Not really a fan of seeing DBZ retold exactly as the anime was but in live action, already seen the story so I would prefer something new.
And I don't quite see why the actors have to be Asian. Or why Piccolo needs to be 7'5". There isn't a whole lot of people that are 7'5", especially ones that are good actors AND know martial arts so who would play him? Shaq? Choi Hong-man? both would need lifts in their shoes, not sure if Choi Hong-man speaks English, and Shaq has been nominated for worst actor for one or two movies, and Piccolo is supposed to be fast and neither of them seem to be that. Besides a lot of times he appears to be much shorter (like 6'4"-6'9"ish). So I think somebody that is about 9 inches taller than Goku's actor would be fine and a lot easier to find somebody (as long as you keep Goku under 6ft). Or just use movie magic and the actor could be shorter than Goku but made to look taller.