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J.J. Abrams to turn acclaimed sci-fi anime Your Name into a live action film

J.J. Abrams to turn acclaimed sci-fi anime Your Name into a live action film

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An adventure through space and time

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Image: Toho

J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures have announced they’ll be turning the critically acclaimed Japanese anime Your Name into a live-action film. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot and Paramount will work with Toho, the company that produced the original film. Your Name was released in 2016 and follows the story of a boy and a girl who find they have the ability to swap bodies, going on a quest to find each other through space and time as disaster looms. It was created, written, and directed by Makoto Shinkai, and the film was by far the biggest movie in Japan when it was released last year.

The sci-fi love story was the highest grossing anime film at the worldwide box office, earning $355 million on top of $303 million in Japan. “Just like in the film it feels like a dream,” said Genki Kawamura producer of the original film in a statement. “Mr. Abrams and his team have captivated audiences in their masterful reinvention of known properties. The meetings so far have been creatively stimulating with fantastic ideas that no doubt will make for a great movie.”

“The meetings so far have been creatively stimulating”

Abrams will have a busy few years. Earlier this month, Lucasfilm announced that Abrams will take over as the director for Star Wars: Episode IX after Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow left the project. Abrams is also slated to produce God Particle, the next film in his Cloverfield series. Hollywood live-action remakes of anime properties like Ghost in the Shell and Death Note have been met with criticism and accusations of whitewashing in the past, so here’s a fresh chance of getting it right this time.