Ever since 2002, fans of the famous DragonBall anime were stoked about an upcoming live action film based on the series. For a few years the project seemed to be on major hiatus after they claimed the rights to produce a movie based on DBZ. It wasn't until 2007 until we all got confirmation that a film was being made. At this time actors such as Justin Chatwin and James Marsters were signed on to do a trilogy. 2007 was a big year for DragonBall fans as everything was going into motion for a live action adaptation. Plenty were skeptical, while many others were looking forward to the film regardless of rumors. When we were all finally treated and the red carpet rolled down in Tokyo Japan in 2009, fans were disappointed by what they witnessed regardless of the huge turnout for the premiere in Japan (source).
We all expected the outcome with the horrible story line and bad acting, even the actors are a little embarrassed from the experience. And a little more than three years later from the initial release of the film, we have yet to still hear any word on what's going on. It has been said that if the movie was a success, they would continue on to make sequels. And truthfully, the film did make money, more than it's budget. Does that make it a success though? Not exactly. The feedback from the fans made it obvious it was not what we expected and wanted (and let's just ignore the petition trolls for a second).
But, that still leaves us three later with no answer. You'd think we would have heard some kind of statement from 20th Century FOX shutting down this project. Some people claim from rumors that they made this movie because their rights were going to end soon so they had to get something out fast. Well that isn't exactly true, the movie was in production for about 2 years, I wouldn't call that making it quick. Speaking of which, FOX still owns the rights to produce DragonBall films.
So, if they still own the rights, what is stopping them from continuing? They've already learned that as long as they slap DragonBall on the name of a movie, people will go and see it. Perhaps, they will learn from their mistake and reboot the series. Although the current actors such as Marsters and Chatwin are signed onto two more films, they have stated we will probably not see a sequel.
So, I suppose we are just basically back to the year of 2002 waiting for something to happen. FOX could sell the rights before they lose them or they could continue or reboot the series sometime in the near future, who really knows. Currently, we have the fan project entitled DBZ Saiyan Saga being produced by an independent company at the moment. It won't be an official adaptation and won't be a full length film at the moment either. But that's not to say they won't progress to something bigger and better in the future. There were actually two other unofficial DragonBall films released long before Evolution that not many know about (The Magic Begins and Fight Son Goku: Win Son Goku). It is highly possible we'll something similar to Mortal Kombat Legacy very soon!
And is it just me, or did the ending of Dragonball Evolution give hint that the next one was going to be done right? The movie literally "evolved" from utter crap to something decent by the end. It's a shame most fans didn't give it a chance to watch it through.
In conclusion, what are your thoughts? Why do you think FOX has kept quiet about the whole situation? If they don't plan on continuing or rebooting this film, why not say something? Because I would personally feel better if they would at least inform us whether or not they'd like to continue or drop the rights. We don't need another company to produce a future film, we just don't need James Wong as director or Chatwin as Goku. Bring back Stephen Chow and have him write the script and listen to his ideas this time around. If not pass then torch to someone who knows what they are doing. Oh and I bet we all can't wait for the live action Bleach and Akira adaptions right?