A Western Adaptation of “Your Name” is Now In Development

Well, this is surprising.

It was announced on Wednesday by both J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures that they have won the rights to adapt Makoto Shinkai’s anime film blockbuster hit Kimi no na wa. or Your Name.” into a live-action Hollywood film.

The anime film’s original producer Genki Kawamura and Eric Heisserer will write the screenplay for this adaptation. Heisserer received an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay of Arrival. Lindsey Weber and J.J. Abrams will produce the film for Bad Robot. The distribution of the film will be handled by Toho Co.

CEO of Toho Co. Yoshishige Shimatani expressed that “We are excited to collaborate with an extremely talented team in Hollywood and to create with them a live-action version of the iconic Japanese film ‘Your Name.’”

“Just like the film it feels like a dream”, expressed Kawamura, “Abrams and his team have captivated audiences in their masterful reinvention of known properties. And Mitsuha and Taki have found a perfect narrator, Mr. Heisserer, to tell their sci-fi infused love story, which gave the film such drive. The meetings so far have been creatively stimulating with fantastic ideas that no doubt will make for a great movie. I am greatly honored to work with these incredible creators in bringing to audiences the Hollywood live-action version of ‘Your Name.’”

Your name. is a huge commercial success in Japan that grossed a total of over 34 billion yen. This is the first non-Studio Ghibli film to hit the 100 million yen mark in theater gross sales. It was played for twelve consecutive weekends in Japan and has been topping the charts of different movie theaters in other Asian countries like the Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan to name a few. The movie’s hype has also dominated box office charts in Western Countries like the U.S. and Canada.

Rotten Tomatoes reviewed the movie as “As beautifully animated as it is emotionally satisfying, Your Name adds another outstanding chapter to writer-director Makoto Shinkai’s filmography.” It also received a great reception from other websites like Metacritic, which was rated at 78 out of 100 which indicates that it has generally favorable reviews.” Even The Japan Times gave the movie a rating of 4 out of 5 for its “blend of gorgeous, realistic detail and emotionally grounded fantasy".

Source: Variety.