Upcoming Live-Action Anime Adaptation Will Be ‘One Piece Meets Avatar: The Last Airbender’

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With anime becoming more and more popular worldwide, we can expect to see a continued flow of live-action adaptations coming from Hollywood. Streaming services have made this easier, offering a great platform for turning well-known anime and manga into movies and TV shows for their already dedicated fans.

Netflix has been a leader in adapting anime and related content for live-action. They’ve released shows like Death Note and Cowboy Bebop, as well as Japanese versions of Alice in Borderland, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Bleach. Currently, their biggest adaptation is One Piece, and they also offer a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which, while not strictly anime, shares a similar style and fanbase.

Interestingly, one of the most hyped upcoming live-action anime adaptations is combining elements from two of Netflix’s biggest franchises.

The upcoming Lionsgate movie is based on the popular Naruto series. A live-action version of Naruto has been in the works for more than ten years, with Tasha Huo writing the script and Destin Daniel Cretton set to direct. While Huo recently shared an update confirming the project is still alive, there’s no confirmed release date, particularly now that Cretton is heavily involved with Marvel’s MCU.

Netflix’s One Piece Proves Naruto Can Succeed In Live-Action

Adapting the popular anime and manga series One Piece into a live-action format has always seemed incredibly difficult. The story is packed with unique superpowers, takes place in a wildly imaginative world, and constantly shifts between intense drama and lighthearted comedy – all factors that made a live-action version appear nearly impossible.

Despite many attempts, Netflix’s One Piece is the first live-action anime adaptation to receive widespread praise. It boasts impressive scores on Rotten Tomatoes – 93% from critics and 95% from audiences – and a successful second season that confirms its initial popularity wasn’t a one-time event. One Piece has skillfully avoided the common problems that usually happen when adapting anime into live-action.

This is good news for Destin Daniel Cretton as he plans a Naruto movie. Before 2023, making a realistic live-action Naruto seemed like a risky idea that could easily fail, like the Dragonball Evolution movie did. But with the success of the live-action One Piece, a Naruto movie now feels much more possible.

When it comes to bringing superpowers and action to life on screen, Naruto is a better fit for a live-action adaptation than One Piece. Hollywood has the resources to convincingly portray techniques like fireballs and powerful martial arts, which is easier than creating believable rubber bodies, soldiers that can be eaten, or a reindeer who transforms into a human.

Konoha Village in Naruto feels more grounded in reality, taking inspiration from historical Japan, unlike the fantastical settings of places like Little Garden and Reverse Mountain. Building a town based on real-world history shouldn’t be as challenging a task.

Unlike Netflix’s One Piece, Naruto doesn’t have to carefully balance humor and darkness. While Naruto has funny moments, it avoids the extreme and sometimes unsettling silliness of One Piece. Also, Naruto is a more classic hero type than the incredibly relaxed Monkey D. Luffy. Finding an actor to play Luffy—specifically Iñaki Godoy—felt essential, but casting Lionsgate’s Naruto Uzumaki should be a simpler process.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Is A Warning Live-Action Naruto Must Heed

While the live-action adaptation of One Piece appeared surprisingly successful, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrates that these types of projects remain a gamble. Though Avatar isn’t bad – and is better than adaptations like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note – it hasn’t received the same positive reception as One Piece. Critics gave Avatar a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences scored it at 70%, putting it behind the success of its anime counterpart.

As much as I wanted to love the Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I found it didn’t quite capture what made the original so special. It felt like they were rushing through the story, trying to hit all the major plot points without taking the time to really develop the characters or the incredible world they inhabit. It just lacked the depth and detail that I adored in the animated series.

The creators of the upcoming live-action Naruto adaptation could learn a valuable lesson from other successful anime-to-film projects, like One Piece. It’s important for the movie to let its characters develop fully and for the story to unfold organically. One Piece made a smart choice by delaying the Alabasta arc until its third season, and Naruto could benefit from a similar strategy. Focusing on a smaller, self-contained portion of the manga – perhaps up to and including the fight with Zabuza – would allow for richer character development and a more detailed world.

Now Is The Right Time For Live-Action Naruto, But With A Twist

For many devoted anime and manga fans, even the suggestion of a live-action remake can be upsetting. Properties like Dragon Ball and Akira are deeply cherished, and fans are fiercely protective of them, fearing that any adaptation won’t live up to the original’s quality and spirit.

Despite its huge success, Naruto doesn’t really need protecting. The anime has a lot of filler episodes, and the sequel series about Naruto’s son has been controversial. The franchise has already been stretched in many directions, so even a poorly made live-action version wouldn’t significantly harm its popularity or the legacy of the original creator, Masashi Kishimoto.

With live-action adaptations becoming popular – even for anime like One Piece – now seems like the perfect moment to create a live-action version of Naruto. However, there’s a catch.

Lionsgate is planning to make several movies based on Naruto, but a streaming series might actually be a better fit. Streaming services have improved a lot since the idea for a Naruto movie first came about. Breaking the story into seasons with around eight to ten episodes each would probably be a more faithful adaptation than trying to fit everything into a single two-hour film.

A live-action Naruto series with six extra hours of runtime could really explore the emotional depth of characters like Naruto, Sasuke, and even supporting roles like Haku and Iruka. If it did, it could become as successful as Netflix’s One Piece and stand out as one of the best live-action anime adaptations.

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2026-05-28 20:42