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 movie. Tite Kubo has now revealed that 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.
Recently, Kubo appeared on TBS Radio and spoke 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 summary, so that you can read up on Kubo’s damning comments:
“This is a story that has not appeared on the table yet. 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 fan 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 be. 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, admitting that 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 the rights to
Bleach since Kubo would not okay its development.
Warner Bros. announced it was developing the 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 he was 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.