Gantz Creator Reveals Surprising Reaction to Live-Action Movie's Director
Gantz' original series creator had a surprising reaction to the news of its new live-action movie getting a director! News of a live-action movie for the long running Shueisha manga franchise first popped up last year when it was revealed that Sony Pictures was developing a new version of the series, and the series creator had noted how there was a contract signed for the series but news on its production had seemingly not moved forward. That was until earlier this month when it was revealed that Sony had found a director for the project.
It was revealed that director Julius Avery (who was behind the 2018 film Overlord) has signed on to be the director of the new project being produced by Sony Pictures and Temple Hill, and reported that Marc Guggenheim is currently working on the script for the movie. While the start date of production is reportedly a long ways away from this point, Oku took to Twitter to surprise fans with the fact that this was the "first" the creator had heard of the film making this kind of progress.
As the creator took to Twitter to respond to the news of finding the director for the new project, "This is my first time hearing it." Surprising fans with his response, Oku also clarified that he had signed a contract about a new live-action film long ago but had not known that progress was being made. This lines up with earlier comments Oku had made about the series' license and noted how he was growing displeased with the licensed being tied up for the live-action film and kept other projects from being made.
"Yeah, I can't talk about all the details on that subject, but a Hollywood company does have the rights to adapt Gantz at the moment, and unless they return us the rights, we won't be able to make either an anime or live-action adaptation of the manga." Oku explained "That's the Hollywood type of contract; they own all the adaptations including anime and live-action, except for manga." So while the franchise had been continuing with new spin-offs and sequels, this explained why the project hasn't been seen in a different way.
But what do you think of Gantz' creator's response to the live-action movie news? What would you want to see from a new live-action movie for the series? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!