Live-action Naruto movie is officially in the works from Marvel's Shang-Chi director

A live-action Naruto movie is in the works from Destin Daniel Cretton, the director behind the 2021 MCU movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Cretton has been tapped to both write and direct the Naruto film adaptation, which was first announced almost nine years ago. The project got a surprising update back in November when it was reported that screenwriter Tasha Huo would write the script. It now seems plans have changed, as Huo's involvement isn't mentioned in THR's report.

The Naruto franchise began as a 72-volume manga published between 1999 and 2014 in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and it's since become one of the most popular and enduring Japanese IPs of all time. The iconic Naruto anime series aired in two parts between 2002 and 2017, with the live-action movie expected to be a feature-length adaptation of the anime. There are also numerous spin-offs, video games, and collectible card games based on the franchise.

The news of Cretton being trapped to write and direct is the most we've heard about the project in a long while, but we still don't know very much other than what we can presume is the basic plot. Thankfully, now that we know who's helming it, it's likely we'll know more before long.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.