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Manga giant Kodansha sets up its own studio to adapt anime like Akira and Attack on Titan movies - and they're putting an Oscar-winning MCU director in charge
Kodansha Studios opens its doors - and its extensive manga library - to the possibility of more anime live-action movies and series.
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If you thought there were a lot of live-action anime adaptations in the works, get ready for even more to hit our screens in the coming years. Kodansha, one of the biggest publishers of manga and light novels in Japan, has created Kodansha Studios – and they’ve got an Oscar winner and MCU director at the helm.
The announcement came late on Monday. Chloe Zhao, the director of Marvel Studios’ The Eternals and the three Oscar-winning Nomadland, will be Chief Creative Officer, and Nicolas Gonda, who is a film producer who has worked with Disney, Warner Bros., and Epic Games in the past, will be Chief Operating Officer and President of the newly formed Kodansha Studios.
We mentioned that there are plenty of live-action anime adaptations out there, but this is a very different situation. This is Kodansha, who own the rights to massive titles like Attack on Titan, Blue Lock, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime as well as classics like Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and Akira, setting up their own studio in Hollywood with the aim of making live-action movies and series with a global audience based on their library. Most of the adaptations thus far have been licensed by an external studio who don’t own the rights to the source material; Kodansha will presumably be much more involved in the creation of these adaptations throughout the process.
Considering the success of the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc movies at the box office this year, we’ve been expecting Hollywood to take notice and want to get in on the anime game. However, Kodansha has surprised us by stepping in and doing it themselves.
There has been no word on what Kodansha Studios’ first project will be, but it is hard to imagine that Akira isn’t in that conversation. After all, Hollywood has been trying for more than 20 years to get that one made.
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