JJ Abrams Set To Produce US 'Your Name' Adaptation

Makoto Shinkai's Your Name has been a genuine phenomenon. Earning multiple nominations and glowing reviews from just about everyone, it has become one of Japan's biggest ever hits, and gone on to become the number one earning anime at the box-office worldwide.

It hasn't taken long for Hollywood to sit up and take notice. News has broken that JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot production company has snapped up the rights to produce a live-action adaptation of the film for Paramount Pictures. Abrams is set to produce alongside Lindsey Webber and Genki Kawamura (the producer of the original). No director has been announced but the script will be penned by Eric Heisserer, writer of the Oscar-nominated Arrival.

The news has been met with a mixed reaction from fans, but the production has quite the pedigree. Could this be the first decent Hollywood anime adaptation? Arguably the premise ( a sci-fi tinged romance where a teenage boy and girl mysteriously swap bodies) is one that should translate quite naturally into live-action. In the current cultural conversation though, the producers must know that they are likely to be scrutinised over concerns around "white-washing" and cultural sensitivity.

Right now it's too early to know- we don't know if it will be relocated to the U.S. (although presumably, it will be) or how else the story will be adapted for western tastes. And despite the less than stellar reception received by Ghost In The Shell (2017) and the live-action Death Note, we're going to keep an open mind on this- for now at least.

The original animated film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US and UK this November.

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