The live-action My Hero Academia movie has found its director. Japanese filmmaker Shinsuke Sato (I Am a Hero, Kingdom, Alice in Borderland) has reportedly signed on to direct the live-action adaptation of the popular franchise that's in development at Legendary. Based directly on the manga, the project will officially mark Sato's English-language debut.
My Hero Academia began as a manga written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a superhero-populated world who dreams of one day becoming a superhero himself. Japan's greatest superhero, All Might, takes Midoriya under his tutelage and helps to enroll him in a prestigious high school for heroes in training. The manga has over 50 million copies in circulation worldwide with numerous spinoff manga.
It has also been developed as an anime TV series by Bones, which premiered in Japan in 2016. The My Hero Academia show more recently debuted its fifth season this year and is still going strong. Anime movies have also been developed as part of the franchise including My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, and My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission. That last one just debuted in Japan earlier this month.
Meanwhile, it was in 2018 when the live-action movie was announced by Legendary Entertainment. With Sato directing, the project will have Alex Garcia and Jay Ashenfelter overseeing with Ryosuke Yoritomi on behalf of the manga publisher Shueisha. Toho will distribute the movie from Japan.
Based out of Tokyo, Shinsuke Sato previously adapted the manga I Am a Hero which won the SXSW Midnighter Audience Award in 2016. He also developed a live-action Inuyashiki in 2018 and Bleach in 2019. The filmmaker also wrote and directed the historical war epic Kingdom which was released in 2019.
More recently, Sato wrote and directed the live-action Alice in Borderland series for Netflix. After premiering in December 2020, the series has since been renewed for season 2. It follows a trio of gamers thrust into a parallel universe in Tokyo where they must play cruel and sadistic games to survive. It has been compared to titles like Cube, which is also getting a Japanese remake of its own.
Some fans might be leery about the live-action adaptation, which is understandable, as these kinds of projects can sometimes have difficulty with the translation. Similar live-action manga productions that have fallen short with critics include Ghost in the Shell with Scarlett Johansson and Netflix's Death Note. While 2019's Alita: Battle Angel was met with mixed reviews, it had a mostly positive reception with fans wanting to see a sequel. We'll see which way things go with My Hero Academia. Given how popular the franchise seems to be, the movie will likely draw in some money at the worldwide box office, but it will be interesting to see how it's received by fans.
It's unclear when the My Hero Academia movie will start filming or when production will begin. Meanwhile, the latest anime movie adaptation, My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, premiered in Japan just last week. This news comes to us from Deadline.