An old and trusted scooper named Tailgunner Joe has just dropped some info into my lap, and after taking a spin around Google, I'm convinced it's news: James Wong, formerly of The X-Files and the man behind Final Destination and The One, is writing and directing the live action version of Dragon Ball, which is going to go into production in Canada this November.

Included with the scoop was this casting breakdown; I know jack nor mini cooper about Dragon Ball (is there supposed to be a Z in there?) or the characters, so it's up to you to figure out if what Wong et al are looking for fit the anime bill.

[GOKU] 18 years old, Goku is considered uncool and unpopular at school, but he is in fact an extremely talented martial arts fighter who gets rigorous training from his grandfather, Gohan. After the death of his grandfather by the evil Lord Piccolo, Goku finds his destiny in his grandfather's dying request that he find Master Roshi and gather all seven Dragon Balls (of which he has one) in order to prevent Piccolo from succeeding in his desire to use the dragonballs to take over the world. Trained by Master Roshi, aided by Bulma and Yamcha, friends he meets along the way, Goku proves himself a formidable, almost undefeatable fighter. On many dangerous adventures to find the remaining Dragon Balls and thus save the world, Goku conquers physical and emotional challenges, ultimately saving the world but clearly impelled to spend his life searching for the Dragon Balls with his trusty companions...LEAD


[BULMA] 20s, female, pretty, with great intelligence behind her gleaming eyes, Bulma is a determined, competitive young woman whose father's five star Dragon Ball was stolen by Lord Piccolo, and who believes that she can harness their unlimited energy and change the world like Edison or Einstein. Bulma, who has a DBE (a Dragon Ball locator device), teams up with Goku, and with him meets up with Master Roshi and Yamcha as they attempt to collect the missing Dragon Balls before Piccolo can destroy the world. A resourceful and courageous young woman who's also a weapons expert, she overcomes many obstacles with her colleagues, only to find the seven Dragon Balls ultimately snatched from their grasp--but it's clear she's going to continue searching for them with Goku and Yamcha...LEAD


[YAMCHA] 20s, "the bad boy who has no trouble attracting women," he taunts Goku, Bulma and Master Yoshi, who are trapped in a sand cave, rather than helping them with his rope ladder. However, after overhearing Master Roshi's tale of Piccolo once nearly destroyed the Earth and are preparing to do so again, Yamcha has a change of heart and not only helps the three in the desert, but becomes a valuable part of the team. An ingenious young man whose utililty truck is the Swiss Army Knife of trucks--every tool and gear imaginable sprouts from its body--Yamcha joins Goku, Bulma (with whom he becomes romantically involved) and Master Yoshi on their quest to find the seven Dragon Balls before Piccolo...LEAD


[MASTER ROSHI] This older man is a good friend of Goku's grandfather, Gohan, and Goku comes to enlist his help after his grandfather is killed. Although he looks like a beggar, Roshi is one of the world’s most fearsome fighters. Master Roshi begins Goku's rigorous training to prepare him for the adventure of finding and fighting for the seven Dragon Balls to save the world from Piccolo's destructive plan. A wise, somewhat wry man who knows as much about human nature as he does about martial arts, Master Roshi is impressed with Goku's fighting but reminds him of his failings as well. Ultimately, Master Roshi sacrifices his own life in order to destroy Piccolo...LEAD


[MAI] Late 20s, female, her features exotic, sexy but deadly, dressed in gleaming black, with weapons strapped all over her body, she's a martial arts expert and Lord Piccolo's chief enforcer. Crafty and quick thinking, Mai uses her ability to shapeshift near the climax of the movie and takes on the form of Chi Chi, a young martial arts expert who's romantically involved with Goku and later saves Piccolo from Master Roshi's curse; once she is revealed she ends up in the fight of her life.


[LORD PICCOLO] An ancient being who despite his humanoid appearance, is from an alien race determined to take over the world. Piccolo is the cursed ruler of a demonic race who nearly destroyed Earth 2000 years ago, and with the coming of the eclipse and the possession of all seven Dragon Balls, he's prepared to free himself and do the job right this time. Crafty and smart, Piccolo has some disturbing news for Goku, namely that the boy is actually a Saiyan who's destined to join Piccolo as his right hand in destroying and enslaving the planet...LEAD


[CHI CHI] Goku’s lifelong love interest, Chi Chi is an attractive, tom boy-ish young woman who has grown up with Goku. She has studied martial arts and has always suspected that Goku possesses talents that are unusual and extraordinary. After Goku embarks on his journey to redeem his grandfather’s death, Chi Chi meets up with Goku and his crew at a tournament of champions where their mutual attraction finally heats up during a training session.


[GOHAN] Goku's kindly, wise grandfather, he looks like he's in his 70s but moves like Jet Li. An accomplished martial artist who trains Goku on the bow staff, he loves his grandson and is happy to prepare a special feast for him on his 18th birthday, as well as a special gift: a 3 star Dragon Ball. Tragically, Gohan is struck down by the high ninjas of the Namek-Jins, and as he dies he sends his grandson out to do face his destiny and do battle against them...

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=12002

i guessing from the descriptions of the characters its taking place somewhere in the first Dragon Ball series but many things changed...

no idea how it will come out im a HUGE Dragon Ball fan so they better not mess up (at least not that badly pleaseee)

im just wondering how they will do Goku's hair

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O MY FCKIN GOD

Twentieth Century Fox is finally moving forward with a live-action adaptation of the hugely popular manga "Dragonball," casting the stars of the movie and setting a release date of next summer.

Justin Chatwin is starring as the hero while James Marsters will play the villain in the sci-fi adventure, which will be directed by James Wong. The movie has been penciled in for a worldwide release date of Aug. 15, 2008. Stephen Chow, the filmmaker behind "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer," is producing.

"Dragonball" is one of the most successful Japanese cultural exports of all time. The manga, created by Akira Toriyama and published by Tokyo's Jump Comics, was adapted into graphic novels, video games and a phenomenally successful television series that ran in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. "Dragonball's" popularity also generated more than $4 billion in merchandising sales. In North America, the property achieved the zenith of its popularity under the name "Dragonball Z."

The story follows an adult humanoid alien named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name.

GOKU PLAYED BY A WHITE GUY ????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH IM SO FCKIN MAD this is like my sassy girl x1000000

________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

Chatwin, who will play Goku, has already begun training under the auspices of stunt performance company 87Eleven, which has executed and designed action pieces in pictures such as "The Matrix," "The Bourne Supremacy," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "300." Marsters is playing the villainous Piccolo.

Wong rewrote the previous draft by Ben Ramsey.

Production begins later this year. Other major roles are currently being cast.

Chatwin, repped by WMA, is best known for his playing Tom Cruise's on in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds."

Marsters is best known for his role as vampire Spike on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Piccolo. He is repped by the Kohner Agency and Himber Entertainment

Park Joon-hyung, a former member of boy band g.o.d - Yamcha

Chow Yun-Fat - Master Roshi

Emmy Rossum - Bulma

Eriko Tamura - Mai

Jamie Chung - Chi Chi

Wong co-wrote and directed "Finale Destination" and "Final Destination 3," and was a writer-exec producer on "The X-Files." He is repped by Endeavor.

http://www.dragonballmovieblog.com/

Oh crap. It's confirmed? .___.


Now I'm scared.

OMG O__O LIVE ACTION!?!!...... what about their hair?! oO

OMG! are you serrrious?!?! Duuude.. i really want to see this one!!

lolxx
i wonder how that will look like XDD
--Ti

Who in the hell can play these characters, there are no actors who look like them, are there?

QUOTE(Gullwings @ Oct 11 2007, 08:56 AM)

OMG O__O LIVE ACTION!?!!...... what about their hair?! oO

^LOL that's what I was thinking, the hair is key! Cause' I don't want it to look all tacky in a live action..so wonder how their gonna do this without making it too ridiculous looking....

I don't usually have high expections for movies adapted from other sources but I'm a huge Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z fan and so I really hope this turns out to be decent..-.-^ But I've really been waiting for like an epic DBZ movie for awhile now..maybe with today's advances in movie effects it'll be okay...>.<;; I hope.
..and maybe it'll bring in some new talent..

(i watched that old japanese live action of DB...it was weird..lol)

The people better be hawt! Esp. Krillin my favorite character in DB series! But I do not see his name?!

i dont know what to say...

but just seeing the title "Dragon Ball" gives me such a nostalgic feeling. heh.

LOL!
Uhm...I hope its good. I'd def. watch it but lets hope it doesn't suck. =\

My brother would love this!
He was such a big fan!
I've never watched dragon ball but my cousins were so crazy about this when we were little.
Like someone mentioned, it makes me all nostalgic as well.

lol ive been waiting for this for the last like 6 years, haha last time i checked they had jackie and jet li being rumored leads way back in like 2002, haha i doubt this will ever launch, haha FOX kinda said they dropped the project

cool, this is great. It's one of my favourite series, and i agree with most of you, the hair definately play an important roles here. I dont want it to end up like the sailormoon live action series, even though i enjoy the show but i really hate the wig they put on.

WOW

i cant believe...wow
yeah


cant wait to see this one

mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn dragonball??? why not dragonballz. according to this information. iono....i think its gona disappoint alot of people :/

Because newcomers to Dragon Ball Z (aka the new little kids of today) won't have a clue about Z's origins.

Oh lord!

has anyone seen the really old one

i love dragon ball z but its one of the things where it shouldn't be made, honestly i absolutely see no one who can play these characters?! I think i will be diappointed but im interested in seeing who will play. I just think its going to add to the pile of crap that hollywood is spewing out now a days. Though i loved some of James Wong's works like the X-files, it will be a hard task to cast and make it remotely believeable.

I wonder if this will be good. It better be. I'm curious as to who will be playing the characters. They gotta have the hair.

I never like Dragon Ball as much as Dragon Ball Z. DDD:

From what I can tell they're not even mentioning Vegeta or Saiyans in this movie. What's the point?

I was a hardcore fan of DBZ, and I don't expect this to be good. Nonetheless, I'm REALLY excited.
Let's at least hope for some good casting...

OMG, I have! It was pretty bad (because of the lack of technology)...Seriously, what the hell is up with the movie industry these days? I would rather have the Sailor Moon live action movie because at least it was an anime I enjoyed and has more (like the romance and all) than just big, muscular guys shooting powers lol. Still, I'd rather just keep classic anime exactly as they are: ANIME. Stop touching!!!

haha. i liked the SAIL0R M00N LIVE ACTION M0VIE. despite the wigs and fake cat, it had a solid story and the actors were convincing especially the girl that played usagi. i actually cried and laugh throughout the movie.

i agree. compared to SAIL0R M00N, dragon ball z is way more hard to make in live action with the seiya(bleh i don't remember. i stopped watching dragon ball z for some time) transformations being more intense and how everyone has to be so muscular. it's gonna be so weird like the actors look like they took steroids.

Aahaha! Are they seriously gonna make that? Good luck to them. It'll take a lot of computer graphics, costumes.. and hair gel. HAha i can't wait to see.

They're filming it in my city, Montreal. =)

I hope they make one of dragon ball Z!
I used to hate it, but then when I was 12 started properly watching, and I was SO addicted!
I love dragon ball z *_*

WHAT, are you kidding? O_O whaaa I wonder where...

geez, when I saw the title I was like " Oh scary live action "
seriously, I can't imagine the characters doing "kamehameha", and those special powers XD omg I wonder how the aliens are going to look like
I hope they are not stuffed animal like Luna in Sailor Moon Live Action

im a BIG FAN!!! omg lol db!!
but i dont know if this movie will succeed...
cuz...
i cant picture any actor as son go ku lol
they better not ruin my hero >.>

super saiyan hair!!!!!!
maybe a lot of hairspray and wind machines????
lol i cant wait to watch this xD
im kinda scared for it though.. live action.. iffy

dragonball was my least favorite serires out of that z adn gt haha. man i dont thin kthere will be any yellow hair in this one. :/ no gohan or vegeta trunks....man taht sucks!

T-T i'm scared. They're gonna kill it. Who are casted for the characters? Does anyone know?

anyone have any pictures yet>??? i really need to see ......this is sccary!!!

I don't think anyone turns super saiyan in dragon ball.. lol wasn't it in dbz?
anyways, I don't want them to turn this into a liveaction..

ROFL!!!!!!!
is this for real? i wonder how they'll pull this off. i hope the casting fits well with the characters. and its filmed in Canada?

awww no vegeta...

I'm expecting this to be a comedy movie, full of laughs... hehehe. Maybe they'll employ some of the 6-packers from 300

They better do Piccolo right though, he was my fav.

Btw, are they going to market this toward little kiddies or to adults? Coz if it were a kiddy movie, it'd be so lame... Dragon Ball needs lots of bloody and sweaty action!!

i wonder how the characters gonna look like? shivers
just imagining their costumes make me laugh
HAME HAME WAAAAVE!!!

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credits to: splotchydivinity & airen

this is a joke
it's gotta be! how can you make a live action out
of Dragon Ball..

then again, I hope it'll turn out good.

..yah know
I think the model/singer Tyrese would be a good piccolo
:3

random
but I think he would pull it off

i really don't know how they are going to pull this off. really if they are trying to attract alot of attention, they should remake dbz into a live action. not db. db has half the cool ppl that are in dbz. there won't be any super saiyan transforming...no vegeta...no gohan ( goku's son )..no trunks..but what i'm thinking is if this movie is at least a decent success...they will make a sequal...dbz! or maybe shockingly....a trilogy...DBGT!

omg! Just reading the description is making me laugh XD

hahahaha! I just can't imagine x33

From an Anime to becoming a LIVE ACTION movie? Hhahahaha!!!

They better not use Ugly people... And since it's Japanese... They better use some cute asian dudes to play the guys LOL

Maybe if this becomes a success then they'll make a Dragon Ball Z. And omg.... if they were to go Super Saijian (I don't even remember how to spell it XD My DBZ Days were SOOOO long ago LOL.)

i did. it was horrible.

OMG lol seriously?

imagine the hair ..
gatsby moving rubber going to be very famous..

ROFL. I gotta see what they look like! XD;

i can't even imagine how they'll cast this. i hope there's gonna be lots of computer graphics going on.. imagine if they made a live action back in the 90's. it would be as bad as sailor moon live action. lol

LMAO. I would LOVE to watch this. I want to see how people can shoot kamehameha.

Lol yup

I saw it on telemundo

all I know is Piccolo better be black

he's the minority in DBZ

Yeah! them boys best be HOT!! i want to see a SUPER HOT GOKU!!

I think Gohan is my favorite .. he's hot when he gets older.. Muahahaha


and Picillo?! (too lazy to look up at the first post for his name) ........... he's HOT too.. and his voice is INSANELY SEXY!

omgomgomg!!! DUDEEEE this is gonna be awesome!

I know what you mean.. I agree with you. it is going to be a little hard--- the hair, transformation, all the bad guys, the powers, etc. Anyone know about the cast yet? I really want to know who will play as Goku

somehow, I never thought of chi chi being "romantically involved" with Son goku. Am I weird?




me too! and yea??? what about their hair? and who is going to play who? I sincerely hope they use hot actors, and they don't make it cheesy.... and I hope they don't white-wash it. & this is an american production right? I liked the mexican version of the anime, but funimation really butchered the series.

i'm really scared. even more so than the 'my sassy girl' remake or the 'infernal affairs,' 'bangkok dangerous' and all the other hollywood remakes of asian hits.

leave DBZ alone, don't they have any better ideas, its obviously gonna suck ass