Lionsgate Locates Writer, Director For Naruto Movie

Movie studio Lionsgate has the rights to a Naruto movie…which is not a recent development. They have actually been trying to get one off the ground since 2015. Every now and then we hear of some movement on the project, but silence afterward. Will this be the time things progress far enough to shooting? We’ll see.

Lionsgate says they’ve closed a deal with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton to write and direct the Naruto movie. He’s only the latest in a string of people assigned to make this thing. It was only last November that they announced the writer would be someone named Tasha Huo, who is also involved with a pair of cartoons in production at Amazon. We guess they did not like Huo’s take on it.

This time, however, there’s an actual quote from Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto, who seems to have personally handpicked Cretton. That could have some weight. “When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for ‘Naruto.’ After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for ‘Naruto.’”

Naruto, which first began about twenty years ago, is one of the most successful and well-known shonen properties. Its anime has gone on for hundreds of episodes and several variations. Naruto himself is a young upstart ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village who dreams of becoming its Hokage (leader). His signature technique, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, allows him to make dozens of instant copies of himself.

As for the Naruto movie, we’ve been here before and you should believe it (get it?) only when you see it.