Emmy nominee Charles Melton is in final talks to join Destin Daniel Cretton’s live-action “Naruto” movie, TheWrap has learned.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, “Melton is said to be playing Kakashi Hatake, the elite ninja mentor figure to the main character and his friends. Kakashi is one of the most popular characters in the long-running and massively popular manga.”
Lionsgate is launching a global casting search for the three lead roles, searching for actors to play Team 7 members Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.
“Naruto,” written by Masashi Kishimoto and published by Shueisha, had an original run from 1999 to 2014, collected in 72 volumes. The series printed more than 250 million copies, making it (according to one study) one of the most popular properties in the world.
The series follows a young ninja who longs to become the protector of his village. The original manga has inspired long-running animated series, several animated features and a robust product line of almost every conceivable piece of merchandise.
“Kishimoto-sensei’s stories have inspired generations of fans around the world, and it’s an honor to bring his world and characters to the big screen in live action for the very first time. I’m thrilled to kick off this worldwide casting search for our Team 7 and to bring the incredible universe of NARUTO to life!” Cretton previously said in an Instagram post.
Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu produce for Arad Productions with Jeremy Latcham. Cretton is producing alongside Jeyun Munford through his company, Hisako.
Lionsgate did not comment on the casting.
More to come…