My Thoughts and Concerns for a Live-Action Gantz Movie.

Hey everyone: seeing how it's a new year; I like to try to do at least one experiment with content in the middle of my usual material. The past year definitely was one that saw announcements that nobody would have expected otherwise, such as today's subject that I've been meaning to address for a while. This past September, Marc Guggenheim revealed that he would be making a live-action adaptation of the anime and manga series "Gantz" under Sony Pictures. Here is a piece from comicbook.com reporting on the matter.

Though not the first live-action adaptation of the series (that honor goes to the Japanese film Gantz: Zero), it's one that has sparked a mixture of both excitement and concern from fans and the public alike. I fall into the latter of both camps; since I was never that into the material in the first place. However, this has again given me a bit more leeway to speak on the matter. While normally I don't cover that much stuff I don't care for unless I have something I can add to the table; I have several reasons why I'm not entirely convinced as others this adaptation will work. Even removing the current cinematic climate from the equation; here are my thoughts and concerns for a live-action Gantz movie.

5. The creative team

Even if Guggenheim has had extensive work for adapting DC Comics' material for the CW; with him also being tapped to make content for HBO Max (after the DC Universe banner was folded into their new service); his track record for film has admittedly been less encouraging. Even though he co-wrote and co-produced Green Lantern; the film quickly faltered despite opening at #1; and a proposed franchise never materialized (talk persists of a reboot). Beyond that, Sony handling the movie also doesn't inspire much confidence in me. Though they're the current owners of Funimation; the studio hasn't had the best results in other blockbusters as of late. It doesn't help that Tom Rothman has been every bit as much as infamous for meddling there as he was at Fox (now a subsidiary of Buena Vista Entertainment). After all, this is the man who personally canceled Firefly on the grounds he disliked the series. This is the man who mandated the Alien VS Predator movie be rated PG-13 and set on contemporary Earth (the complete opposite of the original source material). This is the man who extensively meddled with the initial X-Men movies (especially the third and Origins: Wolverine, and regarding the latter; ordered Deadpool's mouth sewn shut in the film); and personally prevented a standalone Deadpool movie from getting made (which, given the success of the first two; talks of a third film and a proposed X-Force spinoff, is now more baffling than ever). That, and I don't know how they'll handle the material; which brings me to my next point.

4. Potentially watering down the material

Sometimes; people just can't help themselves. This isn't a problem unique to this medium; but even as my lifetime has seen all manner of material go from subculture to pop culture, some executives still operate under the mindset that boils down to, "Let's take this successful IP and do nothing that made it popular! It'll make millions!" This led to other brilliant decisions we'll come back to in this list; but lots of them make decisions that seem downright illogical to the surprise of no one but the ones who demanded the changes. I just mentioned Rothman; but despite the fact the Dragon Ball series continues to entertain the young and old alike for the past few decades; he was reportedly the one that pushed for the changes in the movie (cutting Puar and Krillin, making Goku want to bed Chi-Chi when it was the other way around in the source; etc.) on the grounds that he wanted to "make it more appealing to older audiences." Predictably, it backfired: older audiences found the movie too insipid, and younger ones stayed away. The 1995 Ghost in the Shell focused on the idea of humanity in the digital age and personal growth; the 2017 remake focused on expensive special effects and a generic revenge story (I still submit The Matrix was a smarter and more faithful live-action adaptation than the 2017 film). The previous versions of Death Note, despite the supernatural elements were, at their core; a detective story that explores the concept of morality and how it's never as black and white as it seems. The template for a good live-action adaptation was there in the JP films and TV spinoffs; but instead we got what was more or less an unintentionally-hilarious clone of Final Destination (though it does make a more faithful remake of Heathers than the terrible Paramount series, with Light essentially being Christian Slater's character and Misa's counterpart Mia being like Winona Ryder's character). Though Gantz: Zero was decently-received for the most part (JP live-action adaptations I've seen have had a better; though admittedly not perfect reception than their Western counterparts); several critics and fans felt that it didn't go quite as far as the original manga or even its anime adaptation. So, there's admitted concern that a western adaptation might not go all-in for the over-the-top violence and other content that would be impossible to escape a Hard-R rating (a distinction the Japanese live-action versions earned); or worse, tone down the story for a PG-13. This naturally ties into another concern I have.

3. How other adaptations have a mixed track record

While for the most part, the quality of adaptations of American comic book superheroes has vastly improved (occasional misfires like Bloodshot aside); that was after decades of lackluster films. Though the surprise successes of Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog have helped give more confidence in the idea you can capture a video game's tone that will make it successful with fans and audiences; there are still bombs like Monster Hunter among them (the film reportedly ended on a sequel setup, but given the box office numbers; I don't think that's going to happen). Following up on the last point, despite a few exceptions; most Western anime and manga adaptations have been roundly panned; and their commercial success varies considerably. Gantz will definitely have to stand out and prove to its fans as well as the general public that the material can work onscreen. In theory, if they were willing to embrace the absurdity of the original source; it might grab people's attention if they play their cards right. In practice, however; not even Alita: Battle Angel could convince everyone in a post-MCU, post-Deadpool world to see it. Disney even tried to rerelease the movie theatrically last Halloween; but the film made less than rereleases of other cult favorites such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus (lockdowns effectively cutting the theaters showing the movie in half out of safety concerns not helping matters). The creators have thankfully expressed interest in doing a follow-up on streaming instead, which I think would be a better format (maybe even a soft reboot as a TV series). Even ones I have a soft spot for like the Wachowskis' live-action Speed Racer are only fairly recently getting more recognized; with that film costing $120 million to make and grossing back roughly over a third of that domestically. So far, there's still yet to be a film that makes the same impact for the medium that western comics have. Blade re-popularized them critically in 1998, X-Men did it with fans in 2000; and Spider-Man did it with everyone else in 2002. All three played a big part in the obsession we have now; and though I don't think Gantz will be on the same level as them all, it can't be denied they've got an uphill battle on their hands.

2. The casting

We've all heard this issue before. "Hollywood whitewashing- How is this still a thing?" Though not as openly cringeworthy as seeing Mr. Funioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's (I submit you could cut his scenes and the movie wouldn't be affected at all); this was always going to be a concern of mine no matter what. For fairly obvious reasons, I am not a fan of "racebending" POC roles to accommodate white cast members. It's unfortunately been a process that's long been overdue to be left behind. To put this into perspective, even in 1956; the infamous film "The Conqueror" saw Genghis Khan being played by John Wayne. If that's not insane enough, the movie was also filmed near a former atomic test site; which saw Wayne and other cast members developing terminal cancer. It's since been regarded as not just one of the worst films of all time, but one that helped rob the world of the star of The Searchers. I mean, The Eye Creatures sucked; but I don't think it killed anyone. Though recent examples haven't caused any fatalities that I know of; they've still been perceived as miscast at best and downright inappropriate at worst. Despite the fact that the Dragon Ball series draws from the Chinese folk tale "Journey to the West," most of the leads (Goku, Bulma and Piccolo) were played by white actors; and the few Asian roles in the movie were at best comic relief with almost none of their competence from the source (Roshi and Yamcha) and at worst, glorified cannon fodder (Grandpa Gohan and Agent Mai). The Last Airbender is infamous for many reasons; chief among them is casting white actors for Aang, Katara and Sokka (whose influences included Shaolin Monks and Inuit tribes) while leaving the villainous Fire Nation (whose influences are mainly both Ancient Japan and Ancient China) as the main Asian representation (aside from Iroh's masseur and Randall Duk Kim in a bit part). This was the movie that brought the term "racebending" into the lexicon after all. The simplest thing is that we all like characters we can see strains of ourselves in; and even though it's getting more and more clear that representation sells, there is definitely a concern that people working on this movie might just not bother and whitewash the cast and setting anyway. Just don't be surprised if they shift the setting from Japan to Chicago and cast a bunch of YA stars; which brings me to my biggest concern with this movie.

1. How to best capture the source's tone

One of the many reasons I'm not a fan of this series is because of its tone. I'm not saying that it's impossible to blend darker elements with comedic ones at all. Hell, my favorite comedy is Monty Python's The Meaning of Life; closely followed by The Big Lebowski. That said, though many adaptations I've discussed here have had varying degrees of success; the one constant is a simple four-letter word that determined the degree of their success or failure: tone. Gantz is very-much a "genre-buster;" running the gamut from supernatural horror to dark comedy and speculative science fiction. Though these elements can and have made for films I've enjoyed (I loved The Cabin in the Woods for example); the way the source material applied them didn't appeal to me. Gantz: Zero did have some success in its attempt even if some said it didn't get quite as much as the original. However, at least they tried; and what I've just told you does suggest it will be a challenge to make this material work. Will the filmmakers focus on one element at the expense of the others? Will they try to soften the very R-rated manga and anime for a PG-13? Or will they go all-in on the absurdity of the original? It's a recurring issue when any animated material is adapted for live-action; let alone a Japanese one.

Even though it's clear to me that the movie industry as a whole will definitely be adjusting to a post-coronavirus world (I ended up watching WW84 three times on HBO Max, since only one area in my entire state currently is in a low-enough risk phase to have theaters open); it wouldn't surprise me if this movie just ended up on streaming/PVOD instead. I guess I won't know what to expect until something is actually announced. Not much has been heard about the live-action Gundam and Voltron films either (in the latter case; I think Dreamworks should just make an animated film instead); and unless something happens, I can add those to the many failed attempts to get them off the ground. As for this live-action Winx Club series on Netflix: I may not be the biggest Winx Club fan (think I only saw the tail-end of it once when I was waiting for Sonic X to start); though those that are have my sympathy. Suffice to say, until I am given reason to believe otherwise; I will not be anticipating this movie or addressing it further. That will be all for now; take care.