The Live-Action 'Fullmetal Alchemist' Movie Might Get a Sequel

Fans may be wary when hearing their favorite anime will be getting a live-action adaptation, but [...]

By Nick Valdez

Fans may be wary when hearing their favorite anime will be getting a live-action adaptation, but with the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist film getting such a great response from fans, a sequel is definitely possible.

Fullmetal Alchemist's live-action film premiered to fans at Anime NYC ahead of its December 1 debut in Japan, and director Fumihiko Sori took the stage to tease the possibility of a sequel:

A sequel would make a lot of sense given Fullmetal Alchemist fans in attendance at Anime NYC already fell in love with the adaptation. Twitter was abuzz with positive reactions after its sold-out U.S. premiere, and they sound like they would certainly enjoy a sequel.

The film gives a fresh take on Hiromu Arakawa's original manga story as director Sori approached the film as an alternate entity separate from its two anime adaptations (2003's Fullmetal Alchemist and 2009's Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) and fans in attendance believed this choice to be the right one. Although the film strips a few side stories, the film nails the most important things: the characters.

Fans of the anime aren't strangers to the idea of Fullmetal Alchemist getting a sequel since Bones made two huge attempts to adapt Arakawa's manga into an anime. Bones' first attempt in 2003 successfully ran for 51 episodes, but was marred by fans for its pacing issues and deviations from the original source. Bones produced a more faithful adaptation in 2009 with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and most fans assumed the live-action film would parallel this series since it was pretty much beat for beat with the original source.

For those unfamiliar with Fullmetal Alchemist, the story follows two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who learn alchemy in order to bring back their deceased mother. After a terrible miscalculation, however, the two brothers pay a terrible price with Alphonse even losing his body and linking his soul to a suit of armor. As the two boys search for an alchemy that will restore their bodies to their original forms, they join the military and deal with a whole host of new political, ethical, and moral issues.

There are currently plans in place to screen the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist films for a wider U.S. audience, but no announcements as to its wider distribution have been made. Since the first film has been received as well as it has, and a possible sequel lies on the horizon, expect news on this sooner rather than later.

Are you pumped for the Fullmetal Alchemist live-action movie and excited at the news of a possible sequel? Talk to me @Valdezology.

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