Sony joins Lionsgate on live-action Naruto film as cameras target spring 2027
Lionsgate has formally greenlit its live-action Naruto film after Sony Pictures agreed to co-finance it and handle international distribution, with Destin Daniel Cretton writing, directing and producing.
The long-delayed live-action Naruto film is finally moving forward. Lionsgate has formally greenlit the project after Sony Pictures agreed to co-finance it and handle its release outside the United States, according to reports from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, with production expected to begin in spring 2027.
Under the arrangement, Lionsgate will continue to oversee development and production and will distribute the film domestically, while Sony takes international distribution. The deal followed a competitive bidding contest among several studios, a sign of how valuable one of the world's best-known manga and anime properties remains, even after more than a decade in development.
Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and this year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is writing, directing and producing the film through his Hisako banner alongside Jeyun Munford. He was announced as writer and director in February 2024, and the project then went quiet while he completed his Marvel work. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has since become one of the highest-grossing films of all time, with reported worldwide takings of about 2.5 billion dollars, which has only raised expectations for what he does next.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson described Sony as a perfect partner for Naruto, pointing to the studio's expertise in manga and anime and its reach as a global distributor. Sony Motion Picture Group chief executive Tom Rothman said the studio was honoured to have been chosen as Lionsgate's partner. The partnership also reunites Cretton with Sony, with which he signed a three-year first-look producing deal in September.
Sony's interest goes beyond a single film. The Japanese-owned studio also runs Crunchyroll, one of the largest anime streaming platforms in the world, giving it a direct line to the global anime audience that Naruto helped to build. Masashi Kishimoto's manga, which ran from 1999 to 2014, has sold more than 250 million copies, and its anime adaptation has reached viewers in more than 145 countries and territories.
The producing team reflects the scale of the undertaking. Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu are producing for Arad Productions, a banner with long experience of adapting comics and games for the screen, alongside Cretton and Munford for Hisako. Kishimoto is reported to be closely involved with the adaptation, which will matter greatly to fans who have watched other beloved anime properties struggle in live action.
No casting has been officially announced. Reports say Lionsgate and Cretton launched a global search during the summer for the central roles, including Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, the young ninja team at the heart of the story. That search, and the question of how faithfully the film recreates the hidden leaf village of Konoha, its jutsu battles and its coming-of-age story, will dominate fan discussion until cameras roll.
The road to this point has been long. A live-action Naruto film has been in development at Lionsgate in various forms since at least 2015, with directors coming and going before Cretton took over. The greenlight therefore marks a genuine turning point rather than another announcement: for the first time, the film has financing, a distribution split and a production window all in place at the same time.
Live-action anime adaptations remain a gamble. Some recent efforts have found large audiences by treating the source material with care and casting widely, while others have been criticised for flattening what made the original distinctive. Naruto, with its mix of martial-arts action, humour and long character arcs, presents both opportunities: its world is vivid and immediately recognisable, but its story spans hundreds of episodes that no single film can reproduce in full.
For now, fans have a date to work towards rather than a trailer to dissect. If production begins as planned in spring 2027, the film is still some way from cinemas, and further announcements on casting and story are likely to arrive in stages. After years of waiting, however, the project that once seemed permanently stuck has a studio partnership, a director coming off one of the biggest hits in cinema history, and a start date. For Naruto's global audience, that is the most concrete progress yet.
