“Minari” director Lee Isaac Chung will direct the live-action adaptation of the Japanese animated film “Your Name” that’s in the works from Paramount, Toho and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, the companies announced Friday.
Chung will direct a reimagined take on the 2016 romance and fantasy anime “Your Name” from director Makoto Shinkai, which was a box office smash in Japan and has rocketed up the IMDb Top 250 list.
Chung will also rewrite “Your Name,” the most recent draft of which comes from Emily V. Gordon (“The Big Sick”). The script was originally written by “Arrival” screenwriter Eric Heisserer.
Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams will produce the live-action adaptation along with Genki Kawamura, who produced the original. Toho will handle distribution of the film in Japan, with Paramount releasing in all other territories.
“Your Name” is the story of two teenagers who discover they are magically and intermittently swapping bodies. When a disaster threatens to upend their lives, they must journey to meet each other and save their worlds. The new film will have the same premise but will be an updated, live-action take on the source material from Shinkai.
Chung’s most recent film “Minari” won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at Sundance this year and is meant to be released by Plan B and A24. His first film “Munyurangabo” premiered at Cannes in 2007.
Chung is represented by CAA.
Deadline first reported the news.