The Naruto live-action movie may be further along than initially thought. The beloved martial arts anime of the same name is finally set to get the blockbuster treatment over the next couple of years, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton at the helm. Given Cretton's commitment to projects like next year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, fans had thought Naruto would still be some time away, but that may not be the case.
According to a new report, the Naruto movie is expected to start filming sometime next year. Known scooper Daniel Richtman shared the news on his personal X page, offering no additional details about the project.
Naruto director Destin Daniel Cretton is currently in production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day; however, once that is completed, the live-action anime adaptation would be expected to be his next project.
The Naruto movie has been in development in some form or another since 2015. Initially announced with The Greatest Showman's Michael Gracey attached to direct, the project would go silent for almost a decade, from there, with it resurfacing in 2023, with a script to be penned by Red Sonja scribe Tasha Hou.
Hou would depart the Naruto movie in 2024, with Cretton stepping in to both write and direct.
Given the film's lengthy development at Lionsgate and Cretton's relatively recent involvement with the project, it was expected that Naruto was still in its early stages. However, Richtman's report suggests that things are moving fast under the Shang-Chi filmmaker, and fans could see it in the next couple of years.
Naruto follows a young, plucky ninja who seeks the adoration of his peers by becoming the ultra-powerful Hokage. The Naruto franchise spans over 72 volumes of manga to this point, as well as 500 episodes of the anime. Since its debut, the Naruto series has become one of the biggest IPs in Japanese history.
No casting information for the Naruto film has been released at this point, and a specific release has not yet been set.
When Will Fans See the Naruto Movie?
Given just how long Naruto has been in development, the upcoming live-action film sort of began to feel like a pipedream for long-time fans of the franchise. Live-action anime adaptations are announced all the time.
Very few ever make it to the screen, and those that do are very rarely worth the wait (with a few notable exceptions, such as the ongoing One Piece Netflix series). That is why it may come as a surprise to hear that Naruto may finally be getting in front of cameras with a creative lead as beloved as Destin Daniel Cretton. For some, it will sound too good to be true.
If the live-action anime adaptation can start filming next year, it will likely be later in the year, as Cretton will be busy with post-production and promotion for Spider-Man: Brand New Day right up until its July 31 release.
That would put a potential filming start sometime next fall. Shooting would then run through to the end of the year or early 2027, with a possible release coming sometime in 2028. That means audiences may be just over two years away from the Naruto movie's release, which is an exciting prospect for audiences who have been waiting decades for this moment.
