Dragon Ball Z Cast

John Campea 74 Comments

Well this is pretty huge news if you’re into the geek genre of films. As some of you know, there is a Dragon Ball Z film in development. This is one of those films that is very tough to imagine on screen because of the outlandish over-the-top nature of the show (which isn’t a bad thing at all in its animated form). But a live action version is indeed on the way.

Well… it looks like all the main players are in place with some surprise casting. The leads for the film will be Justin Chatwin (The Invisible, War of the Worlds) to play Goku and James Marsters (“Smallville,” “Angel,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) as the villain Piccolo. I never would have guessed either one of these guys. The good folks over at ComingSoon give us this:

Actor/writer/director Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) is producing. Final Destination helmer James Wong will direct from a script he wrote. Ben Ramsey wrote an earlier draft.

Ok, I’ve said before that I don’t think a live action Dragon Ball Z film is a great idea. First of all (and you can quote me on this and refer back to it 2 years from now if you’d like) there is no chance in hell this film will make anywhere near the revenue Transformers made. That’s not to say that it couldn’t be a better movie than Transformers… but it just does not have the same appeal to an audience outside its core fan base that Transformers did.

I know I know I know… everyone likes to talk about how DBZ has a HUGE MASSIVE following. Yeah well… so did Serenity… so did Star Trek.

Franchises like Spider-Man, X-Men and Transformers succeeded because they were able to appeal to the larger movie going audience OUTSIDE the properties existing fan base… DBZ won’t do that. Sorry… I like DBZ… I think it will be a lot of fun… but unless you’re already a DBZ fan… there aren’t going to be a lot of people going to see this. That’s just the way it is. My mom wasn’t a Transformers fan, but the movie appealed to her anyway (like a lot of other people). She won’t be interested in DBZ.

Ok, now back to the casting. I’ve gone on record before to talk about how much I like James Marsters. I think he’s a terrific talent who is just being wasted right now. This guy should be a leading man or at least be in a lot more projects than he is. But having said that… I just don’t see him as Piccolo. Nor do I see Chatwin (who I thought was excellent in The Invisible) as Goku in the least. No, it’s not because they’re not asian… I just got see them as a fit. But like I said, I love Marsters so I hope I’m wrong about that.

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74 thoughts on “Dragon Ball Z Cast”

  1. Ive seen the teaser of that DB(Z) movie and it sucks bad!!!Cmon guys! there is no point to hope anything from poeple who put profit before quality. Goku to school?WTF man.?.. with all my respct to Akira, i still think its gonna be another street figther movie.
    Skinny goku?!?….wtf…

  4. @kracken

    okay, well wait for the trailer then before you dump shit on it. and i never said i was giving excuses, i just want people to wait and see. . it it’s bad, its bad. but none of you could know that just now.

  6. this shit is going to be gay! all the anime u can sorta relate to never become a live action movie like ”cowboy bebop”& ultimate muscle.but they’ll make a dumb ass dbz movie. dbz is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy 2 complex for people dat never watch the tv show 2 understand yet make sense.

  8. Well First of all, Wait ATLEAST till the trailer freaking comes out till you slam these two people about how they wouldn’t make the characters. Because no, they dont look like they could be those too characters but there ACTORS people, your taking pictures of them as thereselfs, no makeup, no changes, no anything. Do you know why people get buff for moives, or why people gain weight for movies? its to get in character, which these arn’t doing right at these moment! God, back off and wait till you see how they betray the characters. then if there bad, there bad.

    i mean for example; dd you think Heath Ledger could be the joker? no. and look how amazing he was.
    GOD you people piss me off. go read a book about acting sometime ok?

  11. so what exactly is this movie about? is it going to be before Gohan, and Vegeta? do they not exsist in this movie yet? seriously is it going to be a series or is it a one time shot, if that’s so than it sucks that i can’t any of my faorite charecters, it is poosible that some people aren’t huge Goku fans….

  12. Wasn’t Stephen Chow actually out of the production before it started and thus isn’t involved in this movie?
    He was supposed to have no say in anything and Fox is just using him simply as a bait for unknowing fans

  13. Ok I am a huge DB and DBZ fan! I would say the reason they have chosen (and I have also heard this theory other places) white guys to play some of the rolls is bc they are attempting to market to a wider audience. Although this does not make total since bc Asia seems to be the biggest possible market for this anime story. Even the die hard American Fans want to see some kick ass Asians take on this rolls, but thats just not going to happen it appears. Also the reason they have chosen this obviously skinny actors suggests that hey are NOT making a DBZ movie, but actually modeling it after the Dragon Ball serious were Goku and Piccolo were scrawny teenagers with power levels around 200 not 2,000,000! This brings up a very interesting point, with this in mind they will probably just be blowing up fighting rings not whole worlds and the epic powering up moments will be almost non existent. This will really lower the strain on the demands of special effects, and in my estimation is the best place to start in this very long story line. I also think it wise to consider just how effective the raising power level has contributed to the long life span of the anime serious which can be easily transplanted in a real life actions serious that could create many sequels. I think Calvin was dead on about the “milking strategy”.

    On the concept of how or if this movie will appeal to a larger fan base outside of the original one will be answered by the trailers soon to come. Not some people with half baked ideas on what the producers might do or what the movie might be like. Personally I do think they have made a mistake in the casting and it will hurt the possibility that it will expand the fan base, although it only takes a few good trailers with some crazy special effects and some awesome hand to hand combat to change the minds of every man who likes to see people kick ass and blow shit up and for them to bring all their girl friends and friends along for the ride and dont forget they all have to buy a ticket even if they are not excited to see it.

    John your nothing short of brilliant in regards to some of your opinions and the same goes for Calvin, but its a little early in the game with so few cast pictures and info out their to be making all these assumptions. I really do believe that make any comparison at this point is a little quick on the draw, but there should always be concern for expanding a fan base should always be considered before any steps are ever taken in the entertainment industry. I am just afraid the original fan base will be alienated in this particular film in the pursuit of expanding it but failing to do so leaving a flop in the theaters. In my opinion this can already be seen in the casting and the movements to boycott the movie in certain areas. Again though who knows what is going to go down tell we get our eyes on that first trailer and I am not talking about a teaser.

    P.S sorry guys I suck at spelling lol.

  14. I am a dbz fan, have been since i waz 7or8 sry but i dont know who these actors are but besides that fact i am pumped to see what should be an awsome movie. since it has just started i think that it will be a while yet before it comes out but the antisapation (sry if spelled wrong) is going to murder me. if anyoe finds out anything new like date or actors POST!

  15. I need information when movie gonna be in cinema, when we can watch,, i am so excited of this ,, and i lose mine patient,, i cant wait to see it,, so if someone know when he gonna come pls send me email on [email protected] pls

    P.S: also if u have some good pictures from casts,, send it also

  18. (Type your comment here. Make sure you’ve read the commenting rules before doing so)making dbz live action movie is so exellent this movie will work superb as i have seen some clips on the basis of those clips iam saying this.

  19. The question here is : will the film appeal a large audience and not just the fan base ? I think it will because it must have great action and special effects in it, and with the right marketing strategy this will make it to the big audiance I think/hope.
    The reason why 300 was succesfull is because it had great marketing behind it, and big hack and slash action appeals lot’s of viewers. And I think people fighting with hands , legs en special beams fired will also be appreciated :)

  22. The only thing that would sure happen when this movie comes out is that the Asians are going to boycott it, and whereever it gets screened it’ll bomb as long as the local population isn’t made up of white supremists

  23. look man i think dbz will be a huge hit because am a fan of dragon ball z and making this movie is a huge thing am pretty sure there will be billions to be made out of this movie. if they were able to make a cartoon like transformers into the big screen they can make anything happen there bringing back like hulk,spider man,iron man,x men i think they can really pull this one off..

  25. Oh yeah… how come chow yun fat plays Yoshi? He’s too… no offense… sensible.

    And what about Tony Jaa (Ong Bak) ? Why can’t he play? Oh, yeah… he’s being pinned to do Snake Eyes in the (we wish it is true) GI JOE Live Action.

  27. Well, if it must come to this… Might as well go for it. Personally, I like the idea for a movie. But market wise? It might flop. There have been a lot of big franchised, cult based, megahyped movies that suck at the box office so it might come to that too.

    Somehow, if it is going through with it… how come they will not go up until the Freeza Saga? Make it start from the last martial arts tournament against the young Piccolo, then off to the arrival of Raditz and Vegeta, then finally to the planet Namek in the final battle with Freeza?

    No… ummm.. yeah, that is too long.. kinda trilogy there but… hell…

  28. Can’t believe Hollywood’s actually doing this, and on top of that can’t believe that some people are actually urging the public to watch it, unless they have something to do with Fox.

  29. U GUYS ARE ALL FREAKING STUPID I LOVE DRAGON BALL Z AND I DONT GIVE BULLSHIT WHAT YOU GUYS THINK BECAUSE I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD MAKE THE MOVIE. O AND NOBODY KNOWS HOW ITS GONNA BE LIKE.IF PEOPLE CAME UP WITH TRANSFORMERS AND IT CAME OUT FREAKING GOOD DRAGON BALL Z MIGHT COME OUT FREAKING GOOD TWO. SO BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR BIG MOUTH LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE HOW THEIR GOING TO MAKE THE MOVIE. IF THE MOVIE SUCKS I DONT CARE IM GOING TO GET MY LAZZY ASS UP AND GO TO THE MOVIES AND WATCH IT. AND THE PEOPLE THAT AGREE WITH ME!!! WHEN DRAGON BALL Z COMES OUT LETS GO AND WATCH IT! AND YES KID WHAT YOU SAID MANBEARPIG I DONT IF THATS YOUR NAME BUT YEAH THATS GOING TO BE THE FIRST FREAKING THING IM GONNA DO WATCH THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!

  30. My impression is: good thing there are people out there boycotting this movie. If only the Americans can unite against this film like the Japanese have done with their boycott movement

  31. Truly.. I BELIEVE the movie will be crap.
    I LOVE dbz…. but i just cant imagine this movie working out. I saw the cast and saw a few screen shots… I pray this movie will be cool. I mean we haven’t got much evidence that this movie will be shit. I mean we’ve only seen a cast that we ‘think’ won’t work out. But we haven’t even seen the trailer. The only Asian people I saw was the people playing Yamcha and Chichi… Everyone would be wearing wigs except for Goku… And trust me, them spikes are way too small! i saw them in a few pics… i hope theyll change that… ‘Apparently’ they’ll be no talking animals like Yamcha’s friend, Master roshi’s turle and that funny little pig… (Sorry forgot their names) Let’s just pray for the best.

    If it came out to be an excellent movie….then maybe the whole world would be stunned! Since the majority of us believe it would be shit… Let’s just hope the trailer and the movie itself changes our minds.

  32. for fucks sake guys this is supposed to be a board to discuss the movie. not to have your stupid arguments where you pick apart each one rebuttal. what are you, 5? i am a huge fan of dragonball z and even though they are hiring wussy actors and the story line will be way off the origional saga and im sure they wont full capture powering up they way they did in the cartoon, im still going to be there front and centre when that movie comes out, and im going to make all my asshole friends come with me too. so who cares if some made simalaraties between this and transformers. who really gives a shit
    im sotked they are actually doing it. and stop with the “john, you said
    “bla bla bla whiny bullshit……”
    because its ridiculous.

  33. i just want to say that don’t mess up with the movie. I think the theme of Dbz is the best. NO other story or theme will ever be able to match the dbz. I am happy to see that finally someone is going to make the movie on dbz.

  34. Hey John, you said…

    “Dude, you’re making my point for me. having a pre-existing fan base is NOT essential for success (it helps no doubt). Success in a feature film is contingent on being able to get people WHO ARE NOT already fans to plop down their money to go see it.”

    OK…So what makes you think DBZ can’t be made into a movie that appeals to audiences?

    I’m sorry John, but I guess what I want to know is….WHY?? Why do you think DBZ is gonna be unable to find a wider audience (beyond the fanbase)? Remember how in my first post I talked about how we don’t know how closely the studio is following the cartoon? What makes you think they are not changing things to appeal to a wider audience? , Also remember, no one expects TF numbers, probably not even the studio, so when I say “wider audience” I mean making the movie actually being succesful (probably not even breaking 100 million, but that is still a wider audience than the core fanbase most likely represents in terms of $$$) because if only the core fans go see it, it will probably flop..So, what makes you think the cartoon can’t be adapted into a succesful movie?

    You said:

    “But no, if done anything at all like the cartoon show, DBZ will not appeal to a mass audience. It just won’t. All it will have are the pre-existing fans of the series, and that’s not enough.”

    Well the cartoon is fairly simple, this you know. With recycled story elements that are just an excuse for cool super fights. Just like….TRANSFORMERS! OK, I know, Transformers had GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS, you can’t beat that, that is mass appeal right there. Anyways, I’m not really making a comparison here, just saying ;)

    So, even if they made it like the cartoon, it certainly seems to have the elements that would appeal to audiences. But we don’t know all that much about the movie yet. So why are you being so close minded with this film?

    Having said all that…I don’t expect this movie to be very succesful, but succesful enough that it might get a sequel or two. I’m not saying the movie WILL be succesful or that it WILL appeal to people outside the core fanbase, I’m just saying it CAN be done. That is all. I’m not a crazed DBZ fanboy, just so you know.

  35. Oh, i just wanna say to you, since I seem to have your ear (eyes?) for a moment, I’m very glad to be having discussions with you again. It kinda sucks that the other deal fell through for you, because I was looking forward to it, but it’s really good just to see you posting again. And now that you expect to be able to post more, it’s really good news for everyone. Thanks to you for all the work you’ve done and thanks to PeerFlix Media Network for making your job easier. Congratulations.

    -Calviin

  36. “My point is that DBZ is the type of property that will not attract an audience outside of those who already fans, and as a result, the film will be a failure.

    So you agree? Disagree? Sort of agree? And if so (for any of those options) why?”

    I disagree. I think they can make they’re money without a wider audience. I believe so because I don’t think they are setting themselves up for a large budget, so I think they won’t have very far to go to make back their money. You want a good reason as to why they have a chance at success? D-War turned a profit. Think about that for a little bit, till just before your brain tries to eat itself. If D-War can turn a profit, and if Ewe Boll can get positive reviews, who really knows WHAT is going to happen next in this business.

  37. This just feels like a weird conversation for me, by the way. I don’t really care for the Star Trek movies OR Dragon Ball Z, as much as one might think if they were to read this discussion that you and I are having.

    I merely think there is more then one path to a successful movie, and they are following a path that Transformers did not.

    I mean, there are different motivations behind movies, often times. Hasbro’s motivation behind having Transformers made was to boost their toy sales. They wanted a movie that appealed to a wide range of people because they want wide range of people to buy their toys.
    The Star Trek movies didn’t have a goal to appeal to a wide range of people. They just wanted to turn a profit off of the existing audience. Nine times out of ten, they did so at the box office.
    Your movie, PoP,GoW, doesn’t have the goal to turn a profit. You wanted to make your movie because of many personal reason.

    Would you like a profit, hell yes. Would Star Trek like appealing to a wide audience? Certainly. But your goal wasn’t profit, and Star Trek’s goal wasn’t a wide audience. They are just things that would be nice to get, but are far higher bars than you’d like to set.

    No, DBZ will not appeal to a wide audience. I don’t think they want to. I think they’re goal is similar to Star Trek’s. Turn a profit. If a wide audience appeal comes with it, they will happily accept, but the primary objective is to profit. Because of that, they don’t try to cater to a wider audience.

    You say you don’t think DBZ will draw a wide audience like Transformers or Spider-Man. I’m saying they don’t think so either, and they aren’t trying. It’s not their goal.

    Not drawing a wide audience is not a reason to not make a movie.

  38. Calviin,

    I’m not going to run down bunny trails with you and debate semantics or the financial realities of Hollywood. The point here was DBZ.

    My point is that DBZ is the type of property that will not attract an audience outside of those who already fans, and as a result, the film will be a failure.

    So you agree? Disagree? Sort of agree? And if so (for any of those options) why?

  39. Actually, I have a second issue with this statement of yours:
    “A movie has to make a lot more than just its production budget to break even for the studio. And as I said, the last 10 years of Star Trek have been a failure.”

    There have only been two Star Trek movies in the last 10 years. First Contact was 11 years ago. I understand excluding First Contact from your point since it was definitely a success. But picking on the last two movies of 10 isn’t really fair. If my company was making movies from a franchise and my eighth movie was rated the “Best Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies” on Rotten Tomatoes, i might consider making a ninth movie. If that movie was not received well critically, I would probably still try for a tenth, considering the overall track record of success.

  40. I understand that it lost money. You kinda cut the quote short there. I did continue with, “It was the only Star Trek movie that had to make it’s profit through DVD sales.”

    So after 10 movies, it wasn’t till the tenth and final movie that they didn’t profit. Again, if it takes DBZ 23 years (from Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 to Start Trek: Nemesis in 2002) to run the franchise into the ground, profiting up until that final movie, more power to them. I did concede that Nemesis was a failure when i said, “In my definition of success, all of the Star Trek movies up until Nemesis were successful, even without growing their fanbase.” Notice the exclusion of Nemesis in my assessment of successful Star Trek movies.

    “A movie has to make a lot more than just its production budget to break even for the studio. And as I said, the last 10 years of Star Trek have been a failure.”

    Insurrection grossed $70,187,658 in the U.S. and $112,600,000 worldwide against a $58,000,000 budget.
    I didn’t really like the movie, but it doesn’t seem that it was failure.

  41. Hey Calviin,

    you said:

    Even Nemesis, incontestably the worst of the Star Trek movies, still make $7 million more than what their budget was.

    That means it LOST tons of money for the studio. The production budget alone was $60 million. That doesn’t take marketing into consideration, nor does it take residuals into consideration, nor does it take the roughly $18-$22 million the theaters kept.

    A movie has to make a lot more than just its production budget to break even for the studio. And as I said, the last 10 years of Star Trek have been a failure.

  42. Actually, I think we have a differing opinion of failure. I think failure is if they make no profit (a flop). Seeing as my example with Star Trek was the movies for the original series, as evidenced when I mentioned Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, I’m gonna submit that my definition labels Star Trek IV as a success. It made a profit. Did it grow the existing fanbase? Nope. Did it cash in on an existing franchise, a.k.a. “milking it”? Yes.

    Star Trek is a good example because of it’s sucesses and failures. Based on the one method of “milking it”, they have had movies that have profited. Even Nemesis, incontestably the worst of the Star Trek movies, still make $7 million more than what their budget was. It was the only Star Trek movie that had to make it’s profit through DVD sales. No series better proves that “milking it” can be a successful business. Yet there is no question that even up to Insurrection, they weren’t growing their audience. In my definition of success, all of the Star Trek movies up until Nemesis were successful, even without growing their fanbase. And honestly, if it takes DBZ 23 years to drive their franchise into the ground while making a profit along the way, more power to em.

  43. I think your point that you tried to make was that the DBZ movie will not pull in a lot of money. On this point, I agree with you. I think it will make enough to profit, but not a significant profit. I don’t think there is much more motivation behind this movie than that.

    Bringing up Transformers was probably a mistake. You did make a comparison with it, although I recognize that you didn’t mean to. I think the fact that was Transformers that you used for the accidental comparison only made the mistake worse since it was a terrible comparison. Since I’ve already used it so many times, I’ll suggest that Star Trek would have been a better choice for a comparison, but since you weren’t trying to make one, you probably should have just not mentioned any movie whatsoever and instead focus on making your point without mentioning another movie.

    As an attempt to get on-topic with the point you meant to make, do you think they will make any profit at all, or do you currently think this movie will flop?

  44. Hey Calviin,

    Sigh… again you miss the point completely. I was NOT comparing TF to DBZ, i was giving you an illiustration of the point that you need to reach beyond your existing fan base.

    Then you strangthen my point by saying this:

    “Did Joss think Serenity was going to draw a Transformers sized audience? Did Gene keep hoping that the next successive Star Trek was going to somehow break the fan base wide open?”

    EXACTLY! Star Trek has been a total failure the last 10 years, and Serenity bombed. Their inability to reach beyond pre-existing fan bases meant failure.

    DBZ will be a failure. It might be an awesome movie (I hope it will be), but no one outside of pre-existing DBZ fans will see it… and that won’t be enough. People outside Transformers fan bases were appealed to. Spider-Man did appeal to those outside pre-existing fans, as did X-Men. You don’t need to make $300 million to be a success… but if you think a DBZ movie will need anything less than $150 million to break even you’re kidding yourself.

  45. And I recognize that you are insisting that you are not comparing DBZ with Transformers, but you still wrote this:
    “there is no chance in hell this film will make anywhere near the revenue Transformers made.”

    Whether you meant it to be one or not, that is a comparison. When you write a comparison, you can’t just tell people it isn’t one. If I show you a blue crayon and tell you it is brown, you will probably believe the crayon you see in front of you more that what I said. You may even tell me I am wrong. That is what is happening here, John.

  46. I don’t think I misunderstood what you said. You did specifically mention revenue. Perhaps you didn’t word it in a way they accurately expressed what you meant to say.

    As I understand your recent comment, you are trying to say that you don’t think there is a chance in hell this film will increase it’s audience like Transformers did.

    Adapting my point to the new info, I agree that it will not significantly increase it’s audience. But again, I think Transformers in particular is a bad choice for the comparison. Without question, the audience of people interested in Transformers skyrocketed from what it was before the movie. Ticket sales were high, toy sales have increased, etc. Do you think that any of the movies I mentioned before expected their audience to grow at a rate on par with Transformers’ growth?

    Did Joss think Serenity was going to draw a Transformers sized audience? Did Gene keep hoping that the next successive Star Trek was going to somehow break the fan base wide open? Again, I believe if movies based on franchises were being made based on if they expected to reach Transformers’ level of market growth, they wouldn’t have been made.

    My base argument with the statement you were making is that you seem to have an assumption that the people behind this movie have very lofty goals for this movie. Based on some of the decisions they’ve made already, I think they are demonstrating that they have much more grounded expectations. As stated before, they didn’t hire big name actors. They recognize that this movie is not likely to be a box office smashing movie. They aren’t trying to jump start a TV series here. The series has already been made. No matter how good the movie does, there won’t be more episodes made. As far as I can see, they are trying to make a movie that they think will make them money. Just like Star Trek did. The Star Trek movies were never trying to increase their audience. The show was over, but now they wanted to make some money with movies based on characters known and liked by the existing fanbase. This is what we like to call, “milking it”. Transformers wasn’t using a “milking it” plan. There was not milk with Transformers. The existing fanbase for Transformers already owned all the toys. Already owned the series on DVD. The only fanbase they were growing before the movie was through Transformers Armada, which was not a “hit”.

    I think if you use Transformers as the comparison here for Dragon Ball Z, the only person you’ve disappointed or tricked it yourself. They’re not trying to do what Transformers did. They are trying to do what Start Trek did. Milk it.

    Now to be clear, I am not against the milking method. If I am a fan of a series and they want to milk that series by providing me with a movie based on it, I will happily comply.

    Perhaps the confusion you had was in thinking the two situations are comparable. Transformers was a successful children’s TV show from many years ago. DBZ was a successful (in Japan) children’s TV show from many years ago. I see the connection. But they movies are not similar. Transforms (the 2007 movie) is not set in the same universe as any of the TV series from that property. The only Allspark before the movie was as a term for Transformers’ afterlife in the Beast Machines series from 1999. The movie was a reboot of the series. They started over with the same concept, but now the story is changed and updated. The Dragon Ball Z movie is not a reboot.

  47. Hey Viddy,

    No, as always I do make perfet sense.

    You said:

    “Did 300 have a huge following? No. That didn’t stop it from grossing over $200 million”

    Dude, you’re making my point for me. having a pre-existing fan base is NOT essential for success (it helps no doubt). Success in a feature film is contingent on being able to get people WHO ARE NOT already fans to plop down their money to go see it.

    And for the last time, I’M NOT COMPARING dbz to Transformers or Spidey. I’m giving you an illustration about how successful movie franchises adapted from other sources like comics or cartoons need to have an appeal to people OUTSIDE the pre-existing fan base.

    But no, if done anything at all like the cartoon show, DBZ will not appeal to a mass audience. It just won’t. All it will have are the pre-existing fans of the series, and that’s not enough.

  48. John,

    That doesn’t makes any sense. Did 300 have a huge following? No. That didn’t stop it from grossing over $200 million. Despite being “so out there” The movie will have to sell itself, just like 300 did and hell, pretty much ANY movie that is not an adaptation. How do you know the movie won’t appeal to other crowds, John? We don’t know exactly what kind of approach they are going for with DBZ. No one expects it to be Spidey, or Transformers, wich for some reason you keep bringin up, even though you say you are not comparing them.

  51. Hey Calvinn

    You’re missing the point. The transformers example wasn’t a comparison… it was an illustration.

    The point here (correct I might add) is that DBZ won’t be able to draw in non-pre-existing DBZ fans like a transformers did, or like a Spider-Man or X-Men did.

  53. Calvin….I just wanna say…You’re absolutely right. I was about to adress that ridiculous comment John made before I read your comment. Why even bring Transformers up? I highly doubt the studio itself believes it has to make that much. Not that they wouldn’t love it….

    Now, personally, I think the might make something about $125 million in the US.

  54. Not a fan of the anime, but I would watch this if Stephen Chow. The manga is supposedly loosely inspired by Journey to the West and since Stephen Chow has starred in previous adaptations of Journey to the West it should be interesting.

  56. James Marsters “look” fits better for the role of Vegeta instead of Piccolo :S

    Take a look to this pic of vegeta
    princevegeta.150m.com/_webimages/PrinceVegeta.jpg

  59. oh ok…..calviin, whos marsters……thats the guy from that show buffy right? never watched so dont know if he fits…..

    i also heard this is a movie about the young goku in dragon ball, not the adult one in dbz…….still not lookin good in my eyes……but a sweet trailer can change alot of peoples minds…….

  60. Robert, im sorry to tell ya I really dont see Goku in my mind. Claviin, I feel john is right. It not that he is compairing the movies themselves, he is compairing what the films are about. TF is giant robots fighting it out on planet earth. How many American movie have we seen about that? DBZ a bunch of martial artist fighting to save the world. See that a few too many times already, i.e. Mortal Kombat, Matrix, 1000 old Kung-Fu movies. So case in point the only ppl that will see this movie is the DBZ fans that would go see this just for the sake of it.

  67. god damn it…..damn it all to hell……DAMN YOU!!!!! I grew up watchin the japanese dragon ball z and i always thought an american made movie was a bad idea and this confirms it…….fuckin cyclops playin piccolo……wow this is gonna be really, really bad……im thinkin close to van damme street fighter bad……

    if stephen chow was directing my hopes will be up…..but producing…..i dont know, speilberg produced transformers and thats a hollow shell of what i couldnt been if he directed…….fuckin hollywood, they just love raping my childhood….

  68. “there is no chance in hell this film will make anywhere near the revenue Transformers made. That’s not to say that it couldn’t be a better movie than Transformers… but it just does not have the same appeal to an audience outside its core fan base that Transformers did.”

    How many movies would be made if studios gave up on the ones that they didn’t expect to make $702.6 million worldwide, including $319 million in the United States. We might be down to only one movie a month if that happened.

    Hmmm. Maybe they don’t expect to make revenue near what Transformers made. Maybe the people behind Serenity didn’t either. Did you know the highest grossing Star Trek movie was Star Trek IV, which only made $109,713,132 in the U.S. and $133,000,000 worldwide. Perhaps the people behind the newest Star Trek don’t think they’ll get near what Transformers made.

    That was a fairly poor choice for comparison there, John. Maybe you don’t see how that’s an unfair comparison. What would be a synonymous comparison. I know.

    “That’s a nice cake you made in Home Economics class today, but the swanky restaurant down the street won’t hire you.”

    “That’s a nice picture you made there, but the Smithsonian auction next week is going to sell way more paintings than you.”

    “That’s a nice looking Soft Pretzel place that you’ve opened up here, but you’ll never get as many customers as the Mall across the street.”

    I hope you think all three of those were unfair, because they were supposed to be unfair. Was your comparison of Dragon Ball Z and Transformers supposed to be fair? Perhaps they’ve set their sights a little lower than 700 million worldwide. Perhaps.

    That said, I don’t think the movie will make over 100 million, but since they didn’t hire big names the way that Transformers did, I don’t think they expect to make over 100 million. I do think they stand a chance to make a profit. Maybe that’s their goal.

    -Calviin

    P.S. Glad you’re still here John.

  69. I have watched many DBZ episodes some I like most I didnt but hearing this film adaptation makes me think of the Street Fighter movie. When compair to the SF Anime that kick serious butt. I feel that DBZ is just one of those gems that can not be adapted for live action without major changes which fans hate. Prepair for dissappointments and huge changes DBZ fans.

  70. The fact that Stephen Chow is involved with this in any way makes me cautiously optimistic. I remember when I was watching Shaloin Soccer, I thought to myself, man, this guy should make the DBZ movie.

  72. Wait, wait… they’re going to have a skinny white guy to play a muscular Japanese alien martial artist named “Goku”? Wow. I can’t wait to see James Marsters in green makeup and antennas on his head, firing energy beams from his fingers.

    This movie sounds horrible.

  73. I am a solid fan of DBZ. Been a fan for over 15 years. To me making a DBZ live action movie is a dream come true. I’ve been waiting for this news for years. I strongly feel that the technology needed to pull the special effects off now exists.

    The cast bothers me, it really does. And I don’t think I’m gonna be the only one. Aren’t there any fresh new Asian actors in Hollywood that could’ve been casted? I’m guessing Stephen Chow or whoever is responsible for making the call for casting is trying to “sell” the movie to the American/Non-Asian movie going audience?

    I’m not saying the movie is going to suck because of the cast, but after all these years, it’s very difficult for me to see Goku and Piccolo as a couple of caucasian men. :o(

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