Bleach Live-Action Movie Reportedly in Talks at Warner Bros. Pictures

A new Bleach live-action movie is now in development with Warner Bros. Pictures according to a new report. Bleach is currently in the midst of celebrating its 20th anniversary, and fans are waiting for the anime to return with the third wave of episodes for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War later this Fall. While fans are anxious to see what could be coming in the next phase of the anime, it might not be the only new Bleach project to look forward to in the future if a new report works out and ends up becoming a reality with Warner Bros. Pictures. 

According to a new report from DanielRPK (a reliable scooper), a new live-action Bleach feature film is in the works with Warner Bros. Pictures as they are currently seeking a writer and director for the project. If this report is currently on the mark, then it means that Bleach will be the next major manga and anime franchise targeted for a live-action adaptation with a Hollywood project. This would be the newest in a wave of franchises from Shonen Jump moving forward with their Hollywood productions like Naruto, One Piece and One-Punch Man. 

Anime Goes Live-Action in Hollywood

If Bleach truly gets a live-action adaptation with Warner Bros. Pictures, it would be the latest in a new wave of anime that have new live-action adaptations in various stages of development. While new live-action projects were previously announced for the likes of Sword Art Online and more, it seems that the success of releases such as Netflix’s One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender is making the concept that much more appealing. The quick and fiery success of those shows with fans undoubtedly has gotten the attention of those who have these projects on their back burners. 

Just in the last year (or more specifically the last few months especially), it seems that these projects are moving forward with more speed and promise for the future. Naruto recently signed on Spider-Man 4 director Destin Daniel Cretton (which ultimately might end up delaying his work on the film) with Lionsgate, and Legendary Entertainment is also moving forward with their My Hero Academia live-action film as well (with a current release with Netflix being slated as of the last update revealed a couple of years ago). One-Punch Man is also moving forward with Sony Pictures. 

Does Bleach Need a Live-Action Movie? 

For those worried about whether or not a live-action Bleach feature film would not only be unnecessary, but perhaps a bad idea, there’s already been a successful live-action film released in Japan. Directed by Shunsuke Sato, Bleach’s live-action debut came back in 2018 and adapted the first major arc of Tite Kubo’s original manga. This unfortunately did not lead to the level of success fans were hoping for as it didn’t really end up continuing with a sequel as the final moments of the film had teased. 

But it wasn’t the quality of the film itself that didn’t hit with fans. It was a major hit due to how it translated the action of the series in this new way. This is all to say that the framework is already out there, and a precedent for a successful live-action Bleach adaptation. If Warner Bros. Pictures indeed moves forward with this project and it’s confirmed to be in the works (and likely the “transcendent” new project being teased by Bleach itself ahead of its 20th anniversary celebration), we could have another banger here.