Will Marvel's Spider-Man 4 Delay the Naruto Movie?

A live-action Naruto movie is currently in the works, but does director Destin Daniel Cretton signing on for Spider-Man 4 mean that there will be a delay to the Naruto movie as a result? Naruto recently commemorated the 20th anniversary of the TV anime adaptation's first premiere, and Masashi Kishimoto's original manga franchise has since returned to the spotlight with all sorts of new projects announced to be in the works. One of these cede projects is a new live-action movie for Lionsgate , with the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director signed on to both write and direct the new film.

Although the live-action Naruto film was first announced to be officially in the works earlier this year, it's one of the projects that Hollywood has been trying to get off the ground for quite a while. With Cretton officially signing onto the project, it seemed like major headway was finally being made with Cretton already working to oversee the next draft of the film to fit his vision for the new movie. But this new development with the also in the works Spider-Man 4 might change a few priorities.

Naruto Movie Director Signs Onto Spider-Man 4

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel and Sony are moving forward with Spider-Man 4 with Destin Daniel Cretton signed on to direct. Tom Holland is also reportedly expected to return for the lead role, and production will also reportedly begin early next year. Marvel's Kevin Feige and Sony's Amy Pascal are returning to serve as the producers for the new Spider-Man film, with writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers writing the script. With Cretton already directing a successful film with Marvel in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings , it's no surprise to find out that they would want to work with the director once more on a new project.

But as for the timing, it might have an impact on his work with the Naruto live-action film. If production on Spider-Man 4 is indeed supposed to begin next year, then it's likely far further along in its development process than Naruto is. And to be completely transparent, if it's already pretty much ready to go then it's likely going to be a higher priority for Cretton. It's the next release in a highly successful Marvel franchise, and it's a key character that's going to draw in a ton of box office regardless of what the story of the film actually is.

How Far Along Is the Naruto Live-Action Movie?

Now it's going to be a question of figuring out whether or not the live-action Naruto film will fit into Cretton's increasingly busy schedule. The first way to do that is to guess how far along the new Naruto film actually is with its production. Publicly, it's been reported that the film is still in its drafting stages. The first draft of the Naruto live-action film script was written by Tasha Huo, who was most recently attached to the new Netflix anime series, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft . Huo said the following about working on the film in an interview with Variety, "Adapting iconic characters or IP makes the writing of it easier, because the passion for writing it is already there. I'm so inspired by these characters already that it's exciting to just take a part of their journey and try to tell that fun story in a way that would appeal to me as a fan."

Huo later revealed that their draft was finished, and it was being looked at by Cretton after he signed on , "I think that's such a cool choice because he's going to be able to capture how nuanced and special Naruto is without getting distracted by the big world that it is, which I think could easily be done by someone who's not a fan or someone who's coming in for a cash payday," Huo stated. "This is definitely a movie that comes at it from a love of who Naruto is and that character and his relationships."

But while the script is still being worked on, it's still far from having an actual production start date or window. This means it's earlier into its planning stages than fans may like, and will likely be further off than that if Lionsgate still wants to work with Cretton following his time with Spider-Man 4 . As of now that seems to be the case if the approach is to take as much time as necessary to get this right out of the gate.

Can Naruto Work In Live-Action?

The success of other anime to live-action projects such as One Piece is likely going to put a ton of pressure on a Naruto film to succeed. The best approach to the situation is to take as much time to adapt things just right for a worldwide audience, and that's a tough tightrope to walk for any director without even factoring potential rush or crunch time to make it happen. But in case fans were worried about how it would all turn out , Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has already given his approval for the idea with Cretton's involvement being a major factor.

"When I heard of Destin's attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto. After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for Naturo . In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process."

And with Kishimoto's approval, Cretton's likely going to stick around with the project, no matter how long it takes the film to keep going as long as he's personally interested in still making it. Whenever that may be.