Would a great live-action Dragon Ball movie do a Billion?
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Just calling them "Angels" would bring so much backlash.
Also for people that think you couldn't translate the designs to real life, this is your Vegeta right here:
He doesn't look anything like Vegeta though. Vegeta isn't who he is because of armor.Just calling them "Angels" would bring so much backlash.
Also for people that think you couldn't translate the designs to real life, this is your Vegeta right here:
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Just calling them "Angels" would bring so much backlash.
Also for people that think you couldn't translate the designs to real life, this is your Vegeta right here:
I'm not talking about the clothes. I'm talking about the hair and shit. You can't do Saiyan hair in live action and have it not look ridiculously stupid.
Those examples aren't helping your argument. ⬆️
Not to defend DBZ but Carol has Saiyan hair in Captain Marvel. 🤔
Not to defend DBZ but Carol has Saiyan hair in Captain Marvel. 🤔
I'd argue that characters like Bane from TDKR or even the Joker, as well as others like Ego, Vulture, don't look like their comic counterparts and people like them, heck even Wonder Woman had tons of people doubting Gal Gadot could pull it off but now few could argue that she is not a good Wonder Woman. Also I think their customes or rather how they are adapted is a huge draw of the characters.
Also I'd say Vegete isn't who he is because of his looks but rather his temperament and pride, his physique isn't even an issue when it should like when doing the fusion with a guy way taller than him
DB has only ever had one art style though, and it's incredibly iconic and an integral part of the franchise's appeal. All the characters you mentioned had been drawn a million different ways by thousands of different artists before they made it to live-action.
There's parts in The Matrix Revolutions and Man of Steel where I can kinda see it possibly working, but it would need a ridiculous budget, and I'm not sure the overly Japanese aspects would resonate all that well to audiences in the US.
You got to build up to DBZ/Super with a decent Dragon Ball / Kid Goku movie first.
Movie 1 is Kid Goku, probably loosely based off the Red Ribbon saga.
Movie 2 is DBZ Vegeta saga, but maybe with more of an older teen / young adult Goku?
Movie 3 is is finally Frieza. There's your billion dollar Dragon Ball movie, if the first two do well to build up the franchise love.
I'm not even sure if I'd make room for every character either. Sorry, Piccolo.
Movie 1 is Kid Goku, probably loosely based off the Red Ribbon saga.
Movie 2 is DBZ Vegeta saga, but maybe with more of an older teen / young adult Goku?
Movie 3 is is finally Frieza. There's your billion dollar Dragon Ball movie, if the first two do well to build up the franchise love.
I'm not even sure if I'd make room for every character either. Sorry, Piccolo.
Wonder woman just looks like a strong human woman. Joker is just a guy with makeup and colourful clothes. Vulture is a normal guy with a special suit. None of their designs have anything inherent to them that is as offputting in real life as anime hair. Costumes can't make up for that. Goku's hair is pretty much essential to his design, it's like Mickey mouses silhouette. Even with super saiyan hair, having big chunky blonde hair pointing straight up would, and does, look extremely silly. It wouldn't look bad with short, normal human hair, but then you're removing an essential trait of the saiyan characters.
Like those above images, Goku and Vegeta look goofy as hell and not in the good DB kind of way.
No chance. Not even if the film earned a 90+ metacritic, and sweeped the awards season. Dragon Ball is big, though fans will be inherently resistant to anything live action. Even if they were to be faithful to the material, it would still be a nightmare to market to the general public(case in point pictures above).
A decent live-action Pokemon film tho? Now you have a contender for >$1 billion.
Personally I've always thought that a live-action adaptation of My Hero Academia, or even better: a 3D animated adaptation by Dreamworks, Illumination, or Sony, has potential to do gangbusters. It's an extremely accessible IP, shares many features which resonated with people in Harry Potter, and would perfectly ride the current wave of Superhero cinema.
A decent live-action Pokemon film tho? Now you have a contender for >$1 billion.
Personally I've always thought that a live-action adaptation of My Hero Academia, or even better: a 3D animated adaptation by Dreamworks, Illumination, or Sony, has potential to do gangbusters. It's an extremely accessible IP, shares many features which resonated with people in Harry Potter, and would perfectly ride the current wave of Superhero cinema.
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Frieza's 2nd and 3rd forms would be scary as shit.
I think it can be done well, visually.
The original Tenkaichi Budokai story arch can be made into a live action movie. It pretty much the Karate Kid with comedy. You could cast Jackie Chan as Master Roshi/Jackie Chun. Son Goku should be Eurasian and Krillin needs to be Chinese.
None of the issues people have mentioned here is hard to overcome with talent behind it except this, Hollywood simply wouldn't cast a lot of asian people for a project like this, with Mulan and Aladdin they kinda had to because otherwise the backlash would be too big, but for an anime adaptation? They wouldn't care and you will have your token Jackie Chan or Ken Watanabe (but not both) .
Maybe. I mean, years ago, no would have guessed that movies starring characters like Iron Man or Aquaman would gross a billion, but here we are.
If they can adapt the story in a way that resonates with a global audience, then sure. Some aspects would definitely need to be toned down - I imagine Master Roshi would be far less of a creep - and some characters would probably get left out or saved for sequels.
Things they have to do, imo:
1. Cast Japanese/Asian people in the lead roles. GitS was probably always going to bomb, but whitewashing the Major did nothing but turn away a lot of fans who would have been otherwise interested. You look at current box office trends and it's obvious that audiences aren't as opposed to people of color in lead roles as conventional (read: racist) wisdom says they are. Hell, if anything, it's a big advantage if we look at movies like Black Panther or Crazy Rich Asians.
2. Get a director with an eye for spectacle. We all love the characters from DBZ, but the action was always the main event. Even if you start with a more "grounded" Dragon Ball adaptation, the action and the spectacle should be off the charts. The Kamehameha should be the most awesome thing we see that year. Go big. Go loud. Go dumb. It's going to be a challenge translating the visual language of anime to live action, but if you look at Capt. Marvel or Aquaman, it's doable.
3. That last point said, you need a script that focuses on the characters and fleshes them out some. This is why I said you might want to leave some out; don't make the movie have to juggle a dozen or so characters just to appease the fanboys crying about "muh canon!" Hire a screenwriter who will focus on character, comedy, and relatiohships and not just string a plot together that justifies going from one action scene to the next.
If they can adapt the story in a way that resonates with a global audience, then sure. Some aspects would definitely need to be toned down - I imagine Master Roshi would be far less of a creep - and some characters would probably get left out or saved for sequels.
Things they have to do, imo:
1. Cast Japanese/Asian people in the lead roles. GitS was probably always going to bomb, but whitewashing the Major did nothing but turn away a lot of fans who would have been otherwise interested. You look at current box office trends and it's obvious that audiences aren't as opposed to people of color in lead roles as conventional (read: racist) wisdom says they are. Hell, if anything, it's a big advantage if we look at movies like Black Panther or Crazy Rich Asians.
2. Get a director with an eye for spectacle. We all love the characters from DBZ, but the action was always the main event. Even if you start with a more "grounded" Dragon Ball adaptation, the action and the spectacle should be off the charts. The Kamehameha should be the most awesome thing we see that year. Go big. Go loud. Go dumb. It's going to be a challenge translating the visual language of anime to live action, but if you look at Capt. Marvel or Aquaman, it's doable.
3. That last point said, you need a script that focuses on the characters and fleshes them out some. This is why I said you might want to leave some out; don't make the movie have to juggle a dozen or so characters just to appease the fanboys crying about "muh canon!" Hire a screenwriter who will focus on character, comedy, and relatiohships and not just string a plot together that justifies going from one action scene to the next.
If a live action DBZ movie could somehow tap into the existing fanbase the way Marvel movies have, then sure it could clear a billion.
It would have to be a total home run though, a proper standalone movie with mainstream appeal, like Iron Man.
Iron Man was a popular character but he was far from a household name before his movie and later Marvel films. It would be the same with Goku and pals.
It would have to be a total home run though, a proper standalone movie with mainstream appeal, like Iron Man.
Iron Man was a popular character but he was far from a household name before his movie and later Marvel films. It would be the same with Goku and pals.
After the BO performance of Broly in limited release, and the potiental BO performance of Detective Pikachu - I expect them to try. It will be hard, but I think the audience is there to support a global $1B haul. It just has to be extremely good, which seems really hard to pull off
In addition to finding a live action aesthetic for anime that retains the visual style of the original while staying inside believable lines - you need a creative team familiar enough with the source material to stay authentic, but willing to bend it into a satisfying two-hour ride. Finally, get a studio to commit a massive budget - and stay the course through a production that will face global fanboy scrutiny.
The hurdles are massive, and everywhere. But if it was pulled off - it'd be a major global hit.
In addition to finding a live action aesthetic for anime that retains the visual style of the original while staying inside believable lines - you need a creative team familiar enough with the source material to stay authentic, but willing to bend it into a satisfying two-hour ride. Finally, get a studio to commit a massive budget - and stay the course through a production that will face global fanboy scrutiny.
The hurdles are massive, and everywhere. But if it was pulled off - it'd be a major global hit.
Thinking the original Dragonball would make a better adaptation is... certainly a take.
A comedy movie starring a very young child where half the punchlines and a fair few entire characters revolve around sexual assault based on an incredibly episodic anime doesn't exactly sound like a great film to put out right now.
The best you could hope for is turning the Saiyan Saga into a film. You'd have to find creative ways to inform the audience about Piccolo since he and Gohan would become the film's emotional core, but I don't think that's necessarily impossible.
They should do what Kai does and open on Bardock's death though. Maybe find a way to explain the whole monkey transformation thing with that (or just cut that element completely). You can't keep Goku being an alien a twist if you haven't had a bunch of stuff preceding it where that wasn't the case.
A comedy movie starring a very young child where half the punchlines and a fair few entire characters revolve around sexual assault based on an incredibly episodic anime doesn't exactly sound like a great film to put out right now.
The best you could hope for is turning the Saiyan Saga into a film. You'd have to find creative ways to inform the audience about Piccolo since he and Gohan would become the film's emotional core, but I don't think that's necessarily impossible.
They should do what Kai does and open on Bardock's death though. Maybe find a way to explain the whole monkey transformation thing with that (or just cut that element completely). You can't keep Goku being an alien a twist if you haven't had a bunch of stuff preceding it where that wasn't the case.
A billion yen/HK money yes. A billion dollars. I would say no. Unless people in Latin America watch it like 9999999 times.
I think it could work if the right people are doing it. Like have it looking like Speed Racer, with the fighting like in Man of Steel and then have top notch make up artists/costume designers along with a good cast with well written story.
I think it could work if the right people are doing it. Like have it looking like Speed Racer, with the fighting like in Man of Steel and then have top notch make up artists/costume designers along with a good cast with well written story.
Anything is possible. If it ended up like a MCU movie it'll do totally fine. More than fine. I do think it's possible to do, but just needs the right team to get it made. If Thor and Iron Man can happen, DBZ can too.
Buu looks pretty spot on but the others are all creeping me the fuck out.
I think it can be done well, visually.
Dragon Ball could work in live action but i don't see that end result ever happening. Not that DB even needs a live action movie to begin with. It seems like nothing more than weird wish fulfillment that some have that want DB to receive the MCU treatment. It's not necessary and since DB didn't receive or need a great live action movie during the 80s or 90s it's certainly doesn't need one now.
Adult Gohan super saiyan is basically your bog standard boyband look tho
I think it can be done
I say pretty much the same thing every time this conversation pops up. I don't know how you could make a good DB movie adaptation without starting at the original DB. You can't start at Z unless the majority of the movie is flashbacks to old DB to set up the characters. Now, whether or not a studio would ever actually do that or if a large enough audience is even interested in that is a whole other story, but if you want a good adaptation I really don't think you can do it any other way.
Yeah the dollar's current super strength relative to the regions where DB is super popular makes a billion dollars USD pretty difficult.
Kevin Hart as krillin and the rock as piccolo but then they switch bodies so we get a wise cracking piccolo portrayed by the rock but it's actually Kevin Hart
I think it can be done well, visually.
That looks amazing. Which brings me to my point that, no, live-action wouldn't work with Dragon Ball, unless CGI is heavily, heavily used. More so than other superhero movies. The hair alone would look ridiculous if it's not proper CGI.
