One surprise WWE superstar has announced they are now working on a new movie with the same anime studio behind franchises like Dragon Ball and One Piece, Toei Animation. It’s no secret that anime has become bigger and better than ever in the last few years as films like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle have been taking over the box office. And as the studios behind successful anime projects get more worldwide recognition, they have started to work with all kinds of creators around the world as well. It seems one is already making headway for its own upcoming release.
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AJ Mendez, who recently returned to the WWE as the superstar AJ Lee, has been working together with Aimee Garcia (Dexter, Lucifer) on all sorts of projects as part of their new production company, Scrappy Heart Productions. Speaking on all of those new developments in an interview with Stephanie McMahon for WWE’s “What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon” podcast, Mendez revealed that she now has a movie in the works with Toei Animation and is currently in the process of writing the project.
AJ Lee is Working on New Movie With Toei Animation
“We just wrote our second feature. I think I have permission to say it,” Mendez began. “I think this is the first time anyone’s hearing this. So we’re breaking news.” Mendez then opened up about her love of anime, “One of my favorite — I love anime so much, and one of my favorite companies growing up was Toei. They did Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, and like these things that raised me.” From here, the WWE superstar then confirmed they were writing a new movie for the studio. “And so we are writing a movie for Toei Animation. I think that’s all I can say. But just such a dream come true to be in their office and see like all Dragon Ball Z figures everywhere.”
It’s currently unclear which route this new film will take, and whether or not it will be an anime as Toei Animation has provided non-anime films in the past. But if it truly ends up developed by an anime studio, it would be a major step forward for anime projects that could take Mendez’s work to the next level. And even more impressive for Toei Animation to go worldwide with the creators it’s working together with.
Anime Has a Bright Future
As anime continues to expand in popularity worldwide, we’re starting to see all kinds of other creators branch out into the realm with new projects. AJ Mendez joins a notable list of anime fans turned creators like artist Megan Thee Stallion (who is now working on a new anime series for Prime Video), and more. These new projects are helping to bridge the gap between regions and will likely make anime more successful as a whole. And it’s likely going to be a boon for anime fans everywhere too.
Seeing the once ridiculed medium hitting it big with a whole new generation of artists, who will then in turn inspire the next generation of creators, is a big deal for the health of the anime industry moving forward to. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for it to debut. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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