Hollywood is very familiar with live-action anime ventures, but the industry has yet to get the genre right. Anime adaptations are still trying to find footing in the US, and it seems Warner Bros. once had plans to make a live-action
Bleach adaptation. Tite Kubo revealed he made the studio abort plans for the adaptation. The creator says Hollywood’s take on the franchise had too many similarities to its infamous
Dragonball Evolution disaster.
In recent news, Kubo appeared on TBS Radio and spoke with Sandwich Man’s Weekly Radio about his long tenure with
Bleach. The creator was asked about Hollywood’s now-forgotten plans to adapt the franchise, and Kubo admits he had a hand in stopping the feature from coming to life. Here is the translated a summary, so that you can read up on Kubo’s damning comments below:
“This is a story that has not appeared on the table yet,” the creator said, nodding to his shocking comments. “I admit that the production was progressing along fairly well, but the screenplay hasn't really gotten together, revealing the reason why the plan seems to have fallen apart.”
As Kubo explains, the film’s possible director and lead actor came to Japan and had dinner with him to talk about
Bleach. It seems the actor in talks to play Ichigo was a big fans of the series, but Kubo said production on the film made him nervous.
According to the creator, Hollywood was willing to spend big bucks on
Bleach, but the studio’s need to impress fiscal backers turned the adaptation into something it should not. The film was set in a traditional US high school, and Kubo said Warner Bros. didn’t make the adaptation feel like
Bleach.
“It is a good story, but it doesn’t not have anything to do with
Bleach,” Kubo said. The creator admits he asked for the screenplay to be corrected multiple times, but its handling was not organized well. Eventually, enough time passed that Warner Bros. lost its rights to
Bleach since Kubo would not okay its development.
Warner Bros. announced it was developing such an adaptation back in 2010. Peter Segal was being eyed to produce and direct the project after working on
Get Smart and
The Longest Yard. Masi Oka from
Heroes was also rumored to be attached to the project as a producer, but it seems like Kubo was not pleased with how his franchise was handled abroad. And, if the creator is right, then he prevented another
Dragonball Evolution from happening.
Bleach Synopsis: For as long as he can remember, Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see ghosts. But when he meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper from the Soul Society who battles evil spirits known as Hollows, he finds his life is changed forever. Now, with a newfound wealth of spiritual energy, Ichigo discovers his true calling: to protect the living and the dead from evil. And when he vows to defend Rukia from the ruthless justice of the Soul Society, he and his friends must cross over and do battle in the spirit world.