Aaand here we are again with Hollywood: entertainment news website Variety has revealed that Sony Pictures is currently developing a live-action Hollywood film adaptation of ONE and Yusuke Murata’s popular manga & anime series One Punch Man. The scripts will be written by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, who wrote the scripts for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as well as Venom.
The film is set to be produced by Arad Productions’ Avi Arad and Ari Arad. According to the report, “Sony is very high on the property given its popularity and the possibility of adding another franchise to the pipeline”.
One Punch Man started out in 2009 as a webcomic created by a manga artist known by the pseudonym ONE. In 2012, the series moved to Shueisha’s Young Jump Next, with illustrations by Yusuke Murata. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who seeks to find a worthy opponent as he has grown tired of always winning against his enemies by just using a single punch.
In 2015, the series was adapted into a TV anime series and aired from October to December of that year. The first season was animated by veteran animation studio Madhouse.
The series’ second season premiered last April 2019. The second season was animated by J.C. Staff, with Chikara Sakurai taking the reins as director from Shingo Natsume, who directed the 1st season. All main cast members reprised their roles for the second season, such as Makoto Furukawa who plays main character Saitama and Kaito Ishikawa as Genos, Saitama’s disciple.
An action-fighting game was also released for the franchise entitled One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. Bandai Namco Entertainment released the game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Japan last February 27, with the game released to Europe and the Americas on February 28.
Source: Variety