J.J. Abrams Developing a Live-Action Remake of Your Name

Posted by on September 28th, 2017   Filed under: Animation, Drama, International, Remakes, Sci-fi
Source: Variety

yourname

Although some fans have mourned the decline of anime in recent years, last year Makoto Shinkai’s smash hit Your Name seemed to prove that the industry is alive and well by breaking the box office record as the highest grossing anime of all time. The previous record was held by Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away with $289 million, but Your Name rocketed past it with an estimated $355 million worldwide. Now it appears that the movie is about to get a Hollywood adaptation as well, although it won’t be an animated one. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions has reportedly picked up the rights to produce a live-action remake. Hit the jump for more details.

According to Variety, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot have won the rights to adapt the blockbuster Japanese animated movie Your Name for U.S. audiences. They are teaming with Japan’s Toho Co., Ltd. for a live-action version to be produced by J.J. Abrams, Lindsey Weber and Genki Kawamura, who produced the original film. The script will be written by Eric Heisserer (Arrival, The Thing).

The anime revolves around a high school girl in rural Japan and a high school boy in Tokyo who swap bodies, a genre trope that is very popular in (and culturally specific to) Japan. It seems like something that would be difficult to adapt for American audiences, but Heisserer’s resume does seem to make him well-suited for a sci-fi love story. With the right director, perhaps they can actually pull this off (Abrams is going to busy directing Star Wars: Episode IX, so it seems unlikely that he would be able to helm it himself). Would you watch a live-action version of Your Name?



  • Flo Lieb

    Hopefully they’ll cast two newcomers for the leads and not the usual choices like e.g. Chloe Grace Moretz & Tom Holland.

  • Nobody

    I thought the movie was excellent, but a live-action remake doesn’t sound interesting. I’m not saying it’ll be bad, but the way the animated original took advantage of the medium was a big part of its appeal. Looking forward to the inevitable fan backlash against the casting.

  • Jameson

    All this makes me do is want to see the original even more (which I blind ordered on Amazon…)

  • riki sorsan veli

    sweet jesus, the recent huge flops of GitS and death note, now they are remaking this AND akira (when getting your filthy, money driven fingers on it should be a crime against humanity), would americans just leave art from other countries alone, and actually enjoy them.