Photo: Your Name Official Website
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What do Japanese fans think of Lee Isaac Chung directing Hollywood remake of 'your name.'?

15 Comments
By Dale Roll, SoraNews24

As time goes on, more and more information is trickling out about the Hollywood adaptation of the extremely popular and highly-acclaimed Japanese animated film "your name." First, the fact that J.J. Abrams would be the producer came out, which had us all pretty excited, and then we heard that the reimagined script might have a westernized viewpoint starring a Native American girl and a boy from Chicago, which intrigued us.

It also came out that Mark Webb, director of the "Amazing Spiderman" series as well as "500 Days of Summer," would be taking on the helm of directing the film, which was, frankly, a little worrisome. Hollywood-produced live-action remakes of Japanese anime don’t tend to turn out well at all, and someone with as mixed a reputation as Webb might not produce the kind of work we fans want and expect from "your name."

But last week it was announced that directorship had changed hands from Webb to Lee Isaac Chung, a lesser-known director who nevertheless has earned the recognition of many critics over the years. Having had great success with his debut film "Munyurangabo" at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, and more recently at three other festivals with his latest film, "Minari," Chung might not have world fame, but he has a good track record. Will he take the film in the right direction? It’s hard to say, especially since the film seems to be changing hands–and scripts–fairly frequently.

Japanese fans of "your name." or "Kimi no na wa" as it’s called in Japanese, understandably have very high expectations of the Hollywood film, and not all of them are sure about having a relatively unknown director take the reins of their beloved story.

“Ahh everything’s all messed up”

“Who is Lee Isaac Chung?”

“Since the story is supposed to be about a Native American girl and a Chicago boy, can he provide the right perspective of a Native American character?”

“The plot doesn’t even sound interesting. I don’t care about the Hollywood film, whether Chung directs it or not.”

“Mr. Chung! I’m counting on you. Please make it an interesting film. I love your name.”

“Making live-action movies out of anime is stupid in itself, but this decision is the nail in the coffin.”

An alarming amount of people–likely Japanese nationalists who are always the most vocal–expressed concerns about Chung’s Korean heritage, believing that, despite the fact that he was born and raised in the U.S., he’d be injecting anti-Japanese rhetoric into the film. Chung doesn’t appear to have ever expressed any sentiments critical of Japan, especially not in his movies, so these worries appear unfounded.

He has, on the other hand, received plenty of praise for "Munyurangabo" and "Minari," so maybe we can hope that the Hollywood adaptation of "your name." is in good hands. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Source: Anime Hack via My Game News Flash, Twitter/リー・アイザック・チョン

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© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

15 Comments
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Nobody is that off center.

What's "off center" about a film with a gay protagonist and a black vegan? Gay people are normal. Black people are normal. Vegans are normal. All pretty normal stuff.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

well if he can make it better then that's fine. The anime was ok but the plot wasn't that great. I also had problems with real time technology McGuffins that took me out of the story plus side plots that didn't go anywhere. There was a lot of marketing hype but if you take any Ghibli movie in the last few years it easily surpassed it

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I am yet to see one Hollywood adaptation of an anime film, that isn't complete horse manure

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This but unironically.

You are nothing but bait, man! lol

Nobody is that off center.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Vanessa CarlisleToday  02:45 pm JST

J.J. Abrams would be the producer came out, which had us all pretty excited,

Jar Jar Abrams? I suppose there are both positive and negative ways to be excited. The guy did a great job of ruining both Star Wars and Star Trek for me. 

He made a much, much better job of directing Star Trek than Shatner did- Shatner's effort was surely the nadir of Star Trek...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

As long as there is a gay protagonist and a black vegan, I’m in!

This but unironically.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Jar Jar Abrams? I suppose there are both positive and negative ways to be excited. The guy did a great job of ruining both Star Wars and Star Trek for me. 

I liked the first Star Trek reboot movie (though, granted, I wasn't a Trekkie before) and I loved Force Awakens. JJ is good at starting things, horrible at ending them, which is why Rise of Skywalker was so atrocious.

That said, since he's not directing, this might be alright. I love Your Name, and I'm looking forward to seeing the reimagining. I don't know much about Lee Isaac Chung, but I'm sure he'll do a better job than Marc Webb would have.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Unlike the obsession here with needing to know what others think of you, I doubt Lee cares one way or the other what people think. And besides, I don't see questions like this when overseas shows/movies are copied.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

J.J. Abrams would be the producer came out, which had us all pretty excited,

Jar Jar Abrams? I suppose there are both positive and negative ways to be excited. The guy did a great job of ruining both Star Wars and Star Trek for me. I have no doubt he can completely destroy "Your Name" as well.

You know what would be really good? Spot on dubs and subtitles for the real movie. Then there is of course just writing an original story and screenplay.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

no no no no just leave it alone....it will be turned in just a generic cheesy "movie" ....

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

As long as there is a gay protagonist and a black vegan, I’m in!

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Why is the media is so obsessed with stirring up outrage about trivial matters like movie remakes? Please not again!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Why Hollywood is so obsessed to make great animes into a worse live-action movies? Please not again!

And really, who the heck is this director?

6 ( +9 / -3 )

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