Does Attack on Titan really need an American adaptation? Warner Bros. seems to think so, according to a new report saying it wants the rights to the show.
Attack on Titan has already crossed the pond in the form of a dubbed version of the 2013 anime released by none other than Funimation, who has also already secured the license for the second season. However, a new report from Deadline suggests that a major movie studio would like to bring Eren Yaeger and all the rest back to the States in live-action.
Deadline’s report indicates that Warner Bros. is currently in talks for the feature rights to the series, which effectively means that Warner wants to turn it into a movie. Has Warner forgotten the other relatively recent time they tried to adapt an anime?
We haven’t. Yes, Warner Bros. was the studio behind the live-action Speed Racer movie from 2008, and while yours truly might have liked it, approximately no one else did judging by its $43 million take in the United States.
Additionally, Attack on Titan is still a relevant anime franchise. Even if it’s been several years since the first season aired, the manga is still running and, as previously mentioned, the second season will air this year. Speed Racer was a retro classic of anime. On the other hand, Attack on Titan has a big audience right now. That audience would also likely pick apart any adaptation that dares change significant details. (See also the Ghost in the Shell controversy over casting Scarlett Johansson.)
Also, here’s how ridiculous this show’s opening is:
Yeah, they would like to adapt that.
Deadline also reports that Warner Bros. would like to give this project to David Heyman, who worked on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. That would bode well for getting the scale of Titan right. After all, the titular Titans are massive humanoid creatures, so CGI would be a must for them.
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Attack on Titan returns for its second season in April.