Dragonball (film)
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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content will change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. |
| Dragonball | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | James Wong |
| Produced by | Stephen Chow James Wong |
| Written by | Screenplay: James Wong Ben Ramsey Manga: Akira Toriyama |
| Starring | Justin Chatwin James Marsters Jamie Chung Emmy Rossum Chow Yun-Fat Joon Park Eriko Tamura |
| Music by | Brian Tyler[1] |
| Cinematography | Robert MacLachlan |
| Editing by | Chris G. Willingham |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | April 10, 2009 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$100 million+[2] |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dragonball is a 2009 live action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball franchise. The film follows Goku, played by Justin Chatwin, and his quest to obtain the mystical Dragonballs before the evil Piccolo, played by James Marsters, does. The film began development in 2002, and is directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow. It is scheduled for release on April 10, 2009. There are current plans for two sequels.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Justin Chatwin as Goku: a powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name.[4]
- James Marsters as Piccolo: The villain of the film.[4] Marsters explained that this incarnation of the character is "thousands of years old and a very long time ago he used to be a force of good, but [he] got into a bad argument and was put into prison for 2000 years. It got him very angry, and he finds a way to escape and then tries to destroy the world. The cool thing is, anybody who has seen Dragonball knows that Lord Piccolo transforms into a character named Piccolo, and that is a whole other ball of wax. [...] Heroic wouldn't be the wrong term by the end, but it's a long journey." He also confirmed Piccolo will retain his physical appearance from the anime. Marsters is a fan of the television series, which he described as being "the coolest television cartoon in the last 50,000 years [because] it’s got a Shakespearean sense of good and evil."[2] He admitted, "When I got the role I had doubts. The more I live with it I realize that I am going to rock this harder than I have anything in my life."[5]
- Jamie Chung as Chi-Chi: Goku's love interest.[6] Stephen Chow had been interested in casting Zhang Yuqi, whom he worked with on CJ7, in the part.[7]
- Emmy Rossum as Bulma: She aids Goku after her father's Dragonball is stolen by Piccolo.[8]
- Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi: Goku's mentor.[9]
- Joon Park as Yamcha.[10] James Kyson Lee auditioned for the role.[11]
- Eriko Tamura as Mai: She is a chief enforcer of Piccolo's and a shapeshifter.[10][12]
- Texas Battle as Carey Fuller: A high school bully. He is an original character created for the film.[13]
- Luis Arrieta as Weaver[14]: A classmate and friend of Goku. He is an original character created for the film.[15][16]
- Randall Duk Kim as Grandpa Gohan: The adoptive father and grandfather of Goku who teaches Goku everything he knows about martial arts.[17]
- Ernie Hudson as Master Mutaito: Master Roshi's former sensei and the one who sealed Lord Piccolo away for centuries. [18]
- Shavon Kirksey as Emi: another original character created just for the film.[19]
The singer Mario was turned down for a part in the film.[20]
[edit] Production
In March 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise.[21] In June 2004, Ben Ramsey, who wrote The Big Hit (1998), was paid $500,000 to adapt Dragon Ball Z.[22] In 2007, James Wong and Stephen Chow were announced as director and producer respectively, and the project was retitled Dragonball. Wong rewrote the script.[4] Chow was a Dragon Ball fan, citing its "airy and unstrained story [which] leaves much room for creation", but explained he would only serve as producer because he believes that he should only direct stories he had created.[7] 87Eleven, the stunt performance company that worked on The Matrix and 300, is working on the film.[4] Ariel Shaw, who worked on Wong's entries in the Final Destination series and 300, is visual effects supervisor.[23] Robert MacLachlan, who also worked on Wong's Final Destination films, serves as cinematographer.[24]
Shooting began on December 3, 2007,[13] in Mexico City, Mexico. Locations included the Universidad Tecnológica de México.[25] From January 2, 2008,[25] the crew will shoot at Durango. The crew will move to Estado de México in March for some shots at Nevado de Toluca.[23] Shooting is also scheduled at Los Angeles, California.[9] In adapting the Dragon Ball manga, the futuristic cities were kept, however, the anthropomorphic creatures and talking animals (such as Turtle, Oolong and Puar) were dropped.[26] Many of the locations are very Oriental,[27] and there will be some Aztec influence too, particularly from their temples.[28] It was thought that Rossum would wear a blue wig to resemble her anime counterpart, but due to some leaked photos, it was turned out that she would not be wearing a blue wig. Instead she would have her original hair, which is all brown.[29] Chatwin will not wear a wig as the director felt Chatwin's hair resembled Goku's.[27] A large amount of Dragonball was shot in an abandoned jeans factory, also located in Durango, Mexico.[30] Filming wrapped in March and is now in post-production.[31]
[edit] Effects
Dragonball special effects are being done by Amalgamated Dynamics and Ollin studios.[32] The film will also have the anime style of fighting in Dragon Ball, such as chi energy blasts and the auras. It is unclear if signature moves, such as Goku's Kamehameha or Piccolo Jr.'s Special Beam Cannon, will be used in the film.[33] Other special effects, such as Piccolo's green skin, will also be in the film. The makeup is being done by Ed French and requires four hours of application.[34]
[edit] Release
20th Century Fox originally announced Dragonball would be released worldwide on August 15, 2008.[4] In March, they announced they were delaying the film to April 3, 2009, then to April 8, 2009, as the original release date put it in competition with four other films.[35] According to foxjapan the film will be released in March 2009 in Japan.[36] The release date has been changed once again for a Friday release on April 10, 2009.[37]
[edit] Sequels
Dragonball has been announced as a planned trilogy with Marsters already signed up for two sequels.[38] Plans for filming the sequel is set for 2009 with a possible 2011 release.[39]
[edit] References
- ^ Dragonball - The Movie » Blog Archive » Brian Tyler is Dragonball Composer
- ^ a b Illeane Rudolph. "James Marsters on Fame, Family and Life After 40", TV Guide, 2008-01-30. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
- ^ Wendy's Borerline Report with James Marsters. Livejournal (2008-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
- ^ a b c d e Tatiana Siegel. "'Dragonball' comes to bigscreen", Variety, 2007-11-13. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
- ^ Monthly Question & Answer. James Marsters's official site (2008-01-15). Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
- ^ Carly Mayberry. "Chung goes live with 'Dragonball'", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-12-06. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
- ^ a b "Dragon Ball to become live action film", China.org, 2007-12-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Tatiana Siegel. "Emmy Rossum set for 'Dragonball'", Variety, 2007-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ a b Leslie Simmons. "Chow rolls to Fox for 'Dragonball'", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b Leslie Simmons. "Rossum roars onto 'Dragonball' cast", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-12-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-15.
- ^ "Heroes' Lee Auditions for Dragon Ball Z Movie", Anime News Network, 2007-11-11. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ "James Wong to direct Dragon Ball movie", Japanator, 2007-10-08. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ a b "High schoolers"
- ^ Dragon Ball Movie Blog » Blog Archive » Weaver?
- ^ "Luis Arrieta is Goku's school bud."
- ^ "Teto, el mejor amigo de Goku es Mexicano"
- ^ Randall Duk Kim's official site
- ^ "Ernie Hudson joins Dragonball."
- ^ Dragonball (2009)
- ^ Gary Graff. "Mario Already Conceptualizing Next Album", Billboard, 2007-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Chris Gardner (March 2002). "Fox draws deal for 'DragonBall' live-action pics". The Hollywood Reporter 372 (28).
- ^ Claude Brodesser. "Ramsey rolls 'Dragonball Z'", Variety, 2004-06-24. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
- ^ a b "Dragon Ball Z to Shoot in Durango, Mexico", SuperHeroHype.com, 2007-11-06. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ Credits & Awards. Robert MacLachlan. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b "First Dragon Ball Z Set Photos Online", SuperHeroHype.com, 2007-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Cesar Huerta. "Filman ‘Dragon Ball’ en escuela de Tlalpan", El Universal, 2007-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. (Spanish)
- ^ a b Minerva Hernández. "Justin es un Goku ‘nato’", El Diario, 2007-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. (Spanish)
- ^ Cesar Huerta. "Se suma a ‘Dragon Ball'", El Universal, 2007-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
- ^ http://dbthemovie.com/2008/05/15/exclusive-weekly-young-jump-scans/ DBTheMovie.com Exclusive: Weekly Young Jump Scans
- ^ Durango's non-traditional incentives - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety
- ^ Dragon Ball Movie Blog » 2008 » March
- ^ Dragonball (2009)
- ^ http://dbthemovie.com/2008/04/28/james-marsters-has-ki-plus-contest/
- ^ http://dbthemovie.com/page/3/
- ^ "No Dragonball Movie this Year", Superhero Hype!, 2008-03-05. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
- ^ : : : : : Fox Movies : : : : :
- ^ Welcome to Foxmovies.com
- ^ http://dbthemovie.com/2008/05/02/marsters-signed-on-for-trilogy/
- ^ Dragon Ball Movie Blog » Blog Archive » Dragonball Sequel Slated For An ‘09 Shoot?
[edit] External links
- Dragonball at the Internet Movie Database
- Dragonball at Allmovie
- Dragon Ball Movie Blog
- DB The Movie Blog
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