J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, along with Paramount, have won the rights to adapt a live-action version of Japanese blockbuster anime Your Name. The two companies will work with Toho Co. (the iconic creators of Godzilla) on a live-action remake of the story with worldwide distribution, with Abrams and Lindsey Weber producing, joined by Genki Kawamura, producer of the Japanese film. The screenplay comes courtesy of recent Oscar nominee Eric Heisserer, who was much lauded for Arrival.
The massively popular film grossed an astounding $303 million in Japan, where it held the #1 spot at the box office for 12 weeks straight. It’s a body-swapping story of sorts, telling the story of a teenage boy and girl from different areas of Japan who discover they’re able to swap bodies and consciousness. Working together and leaving each other clues, they attempt to meet in person in order to avert some kind of impending disaster.
“Just like in the film it feels like a dream,” said Kawamura in a statement in Variety. “Mr. 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.”
With Abrams taking on yet another remake of a “known property,” as Kawamura put it, he seems to be moving with even more assuredness into role that South Park once satirized him in: Dedicated rebooter of nostalgic properties. Given that national anthem protests in the NFL are still a topic of grave concern for Americans all the way up to the President, perhaps this is the indeed the time to give Abrams a crack at the national anthem?
Read our review of Your Name right here.