Hollywood may not have the best history with anime, but the industry isn’t willing to leave the medium behind. Dragon Ball and Ghost in the Shell failed to impress with their live-action adaptations, leaving audiences wary of any project Hollywood touches. However, films like Pacific Rim showed how the West can succeed with Japanese-influenced titles. So, it isn’t strange to hear one Pacific Rim star wants to explore anime on the big screen.
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Hollywood, you listening yet?
Recently, John Boyega took to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything chat. The on-going thread saw fans ask the Star Wars actor about his work on Pacific Rim: Uprising. It was there a fan asked what film genres Boyega wants to explore, and the star said anime is at the top of his list.
“Yes, scifi definitely is a genre that I like to explore. I actually want to explore anime,” the actor wrote. “I want to see some, leaving Naruto alone, but I’d love to see Attack on Titan on screen.”
So, there you have it. Boyega may not be keen on Naruto being adapted these days, but he is down for Attack on Titan to make landfall at theaters.
Of course, fans of the shonen title will know Attack on Titan has experience with live-action films. Back in 2015, Warner Bros. Japan released the first live-action rendition of Attack on Titan abroad. The movie’s first part grossed big at the Japanese box office, but its second part didn’t impress fans or critics.
Japan may not have done Attack on Titan justice, but Boyega’s interest in the series better not wane yet. After year, news broke that the franchise’s film rights were purchased by Warner Bros. in the US. The IP was quietly licensed by the major studio in the hopes that David Heyman (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) would produce the feature.
For those unfamiliar with Attack on Titan, the series was originally created by Hajime Isayama. Starting its run in Kondansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2009, the series has been collected into 23 volumes as of 2017. It’s set in a world where the last remnants of humanity live within a walled city in order to escape the danger of the Titans, a race of giants monsters that eats humans. Eren Yeager joins the military with his two childhood friends Mikasa and Armin after the Titans break through the wall and attack his hometown.
Which anime adaptations would you cast Boyega in? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!
