With the approval and collaboration of series creator Masashi Kishimoto
Naruto Live-Action Movie Lands Shang-Chi Director – IGN The Fix: Entertainment
Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, American-born Chinese) will write and direct Lionsgate's feature-length live-action film based on Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.
In Naruto, Kishimoto combined a ruthless refinement of shonen manga themes of endurance and drama with the irresistible story of the class clown at a ninja school, creating an internationally beloved hit manga and subsequent anime adaptations. Lionsgate announced it was in development on a live-action film a year after the manga's conclusion in 2014, but with little movement on the project in the decade since.
With writer and director credits on most of his projects, Cretton has already shown a deft hand with both action directing and casting adaptations, and that work seems to have won enthusiastic approval from Kishimoto. According to a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the mangaka found out about Crettin's involvement right after seeing "a blockbuster action movie" and thought he would be a perfect fit for Naruto.
