The popular Japanese anime series Full Metal Panic is now set to become a live-action movie after Mandalay Pictures acquired its theatrical rights. In what is becoming a fast trend in Hollywood, another marquee celebrity, Zac Efron, has expressed interest to appear in the movie.
Created by Shoji Gatoh, Full Metal Panic tells us the story of a teenage yet anti-terrorist commando boy named Sousuke Sagara as he endeavors to protect a high school girl with very special powers. The narrative is set in a world where seemingly adults don’t exist. Blending action, comedy and high school reference, the animation series of Full Metal Panic was first aired in Japan in 2002 and became a target of character licensing in the United States by ADV Films.
Zac Efron, on the other hand, has been a popular fixture in Hollywood’s teen demographic. He is the star of Disney Channel’s High School Musical, WB’s Summerland and the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray. It is interesting to see how he’ll portray a Japanese anime character.
Hollywood has been actively tapping the Japanese anime cache of intellectual properties for their next big theatrical release. Already, classic animation series such as Speed Racer and Astro Boy (starring Nicolas Cage as the creator of Astro Boy) have already finished production. Other noteworthy live-movie adaptations of Japanese anime series are Cowboy Bebop, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, and Afro Samurai (which featured Samuel L. Jackson).
Mandalay Pictures is the studio behind Hollywood films such as Sleepy Hollow, Enemy at the Gates, The Score, The Jacket, and Into the Blue previously. Full Metal Panic hasn’t been setup at a studio just yet.
Here is a trailer of Full Metal Panic to get your senses going:
April 12th, 2009 at 3:32 am
First off.. THERE ARE adults in the full metal panic realm. and Seconds I hope to god they dont put Zack as Sousuke because I swere a piece of me will die forever.
REAL full metal panic fans, wont want a real live version and especially not done by a perky, flimbsy, boy like Zack.
I swere I’ll perish forever if thsi rumor is true.
April 12th, 2009 at 3:33 am
NO NO NO NO NO! they know nothing of Full Metal Panic! Zac whats his face as Sousuke Sagara? hell no! a world where adults seemingly don’t exist? are you crazy!? watch the Animes! there are three series. Full Metal Panic! Full Metal Panic Fumoffu!? and Full Metal Panic! TSR ( the second raid ) if anything Mr. Preppy boy Zac could perfectly pull off the roll of Leonard Testarosa.. a evil preppy like bad guy! If this were to happenj I would get all Full Metal Panic fans to boycott!
April 16th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Using Zack as Sousuke would be a big mistake. I do not believe that Zack would portray the true nature of Sousuke. IMO the Full Metal Panic live action film adaptation will be a failure.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Zack Efron as Sagara. No effing way, it just wont work.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Well, we know how Hollywood can become crazy sometimes
April 28th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
animes should just stay as an anime dragon ball was a great example how bad was that when it turned into a live action file
May 5th, 2009 at 6:04 am
I say Hell No to this! Like the guy above, Dragonball was a perfect example of what happens when a good anime get ruined by HOLLYWOOD!! And if I must also say-DAMN YOU HOLLYWOOD for trying to make COWBOY BEBOP into a movie!! Damn you…your never going to find the perfect person for FAYE and neither will you find one for ED nor the DOG!!!
And yes…Sorry zack, but putting you into this anime is injustice, although I can see him as Light Yagami in Deathnote, his hair style is good for it-let’s just see if he can do that scary evil face of Light’s!
May 10th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
why Zac Efron? its not a good start…
May 20th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I don’t know…I personally love the Full Metal Panic universe and wouldn’t like to see it destroyed by a happy-go-lucky Sagara, but you know what? There are a lot of animes that everyone wants on the silver screen, and if FMP got up there, I’d go see it, just on the MINUTE chance that it’d be worth watching.
I’d still cringe when I saw Zac, though…
May 30th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Sooner or later , other great animes like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece or even Fullmetal Alchemist will aklso be live action by Hollywood
June 8th, 2009 at 10:48 am
FCUK that!
ZAC EFRON? wot the hell!
i would definitely join the boycott if that happens.
there is no way he can play Sagara.
what’s he gonna do to Sagara’s image? – HE’S GONNA RUIN IT OBVIOUSLY!
everytime we’re gonnna think of a Sousuke Sagara in our heads, we’ll see a dancing and singing Zac Efron!
what the hell!!!!
Hollywood’s gone crazy
i’m gonna commit suicide if they go on with Zac
(we need to protest people!)
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 am
Why live action? i would love to see the movie in the anime form >.> gawd…
Heh, the series is screwed
July 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
No, Hollywood CAN’T go through with this. Full Metal Panic is a complicated film to go through already (even if it doesn’t seem it. For example, they refused to put blue hair on Bulma in DB:E, what about Ms. Chidori?!) If you look at all the adaptions of films (DB:E) how winy and serious, and unfunny, the characters are how do you think a seemingly funny anime like this will pan out?
Seeing Zac Efron as Soskue will just make me lose all interest in FMP. I don’t know who should play Sagara, or if they should even do this movie. Pull a Mask 2! Abort it! What they’re going to say next
“Oh, since she worked well with you in HSM, bring Vanessa Hudgens so she can play Kaname,”
FMP = DB:E. I will do what it takes to make sure that Efron doesn’t even get the script. ANY MEANS NECESSARY
July 12th, 2009 at 2:54 am
f those stupid hollywood directors! why the f are they putting zac as souske?!!!!!!!!!!! zac is nothing i mean nothing when compared to souske i mean he probably wouldn’t even pay attention to kaname in real life!!!!!!!!!! he would be paying more attention to his hair or something!!! these directers are idiots!!! @#%$^&*%^@*&#&!
July 14th, 2009 at 9:53 am
You mention teen demographics, and the number of teens who follow Effron; i think you should examine those figures ‘ALOT’ more carefully. You’ll see a direct correlation between the hate for effron and the love for anime.
There is no way they could get the formula right anyway, the type of people who know what FMP is are the hard-core fans who won’t accept anything less than perfection.
Maybe if they got the original anime and manga peoples on scene then they may have a thread of hope; without them however, abandon all hope.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:31 am
PLEASE say this isn’t true
it’ll make people that have no idea about anime
watch it because he’s in it
July 18th, 2009 at 2:34 am
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!! ZACK AS SOUSUKE SAGARA,THEY DONT KNOW WHAT IS THE TRUE SOUSUKE SAGARA!!!THEY DONT EVEN UNDERSTAND THE ANIME FULL METAL PANIC!!!I WILL DIE IF THAT HAPPENS!!!!THEY DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SOUSUKE SAGARA AND KANAME CHIDORI!!!!
July 18th, 2009 at 2:37 am
IM SURE I WILL BECOME A REAL EMO IF THAT HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!
July 18th, 2009 at 2:49 am
THEY DONT KNOW ANYTHING!!!!!!!! THE REAL FANS OF FMP WONT DO THAT!!!!!!!!!! JUST PICK ANOTHER ONE WHO CAN REALLY BRING THE TRUE FEELINGS, EMOTIONS, AND WHO CAN PLAY THE REAL SOUSUKE SAGARA!!!!!!!I AM JOINING AT PMA BEACAUSE THIS IS MY DREAM THIS IS THE REASON WHY I AM BREATHING!!!!!I WANT TO BE A SOLDIER!!!!NIATSIRHC NORAA B NANGUCAB!!!!!!!!!!!
August 7th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Having Zack Effron in this movie is a slap in us anime fans face. And this movie is not gonna work. It’s not meant to be a live action movie.
August 8th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Zac Efron as Sousuke…AHAHAHAHAHAHA xD WTF are they thinking?! He would ruin Sousuke D : I don’t think FMP should be a live action movie anyway.. Im not a fan of animes being turned into live action movies, I’d just sit there and point out all the flaws. Especially Chidori’s personality of constantly beating Sousuke up with D;< faces and lightning quick kicks to the groin. </3
August 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
when i first heard about the live action of Full Metal Panic, i really felt excited. those who seem to be very pessimist about the coming movie, why don’t you just wait? i think zac efron, the famous hollywood actor, can portray sosuke sagara. let’s just wait and see.
besides, zac portrayed different personalities in his past movies, why don’t we give him a chance to prove his talent?
August 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Maybe you guys are just jealous, besides, when novels are portrayed in movies; some fans really get angry with the cast. But if the writer chooses the set of characters, then you have no rights to question that. Shoji Gatoh coordinated with the staff of the incoming movie, which means that he’s one of the people who chose the set of actors and actresses.
But if you don’t want zac efron to portray sosuke sagara, maybe you pessimists can do it yourself.
September 6th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
animacis, Zac efron has no talent in acting… your just a disney channel nut supporting him. I agree with the rest of you though, I would see it but not if Zac Efron is casted as Sagara.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:03 am
zac efron…sousuke…..o..m…g… not a good thing. It’ll be… PANIC Metal FULLY!
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
another great anime to be ruined -_-
October 27th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
If this was to happen, I will boycot every aspects of the movie version. There is just no way a live version will even come close to the Anime series. I haven’t seen a conversion that works!!!
November 1st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
you know, I’d really like to give Zac the benefit of a doubt…i think he’d do alright; he did well in 17 again and “orson welles and I” looks very promising. THAT said; if they make a live action version of FMP it would still be mediocre at best. I think the Dragonball and Initial D movies showcased why a manga turned anime should never, ever become a live action movie.
December 5th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Hollywood ends another great series…
January 25th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
The problem is not that there being a live action adaptation, it is that every time they try and stuff an entire series into a single movie. There is just too much story. You end up confusing the audience and leaving the characters empty. You have to do these movies with an expectation of doing a trilogy at the least, otherwise you are just wasting everyone’s time. Dragonball was an example of a movie with so much wasted potential. Instead they go off losing the entire audience. In my opinion, they were best kicking it off at the beginning of the Vegeta saga and holding it true. Could have pulled off a trilogy at the minimum if they had done that.
For those thinking, why go right to DBZ? What about Dragonball? Star Wars showed how you don’t have to start at the beginning to be a success.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:01 am
It’s nice to see that I don’t need an account, because you guys are all overeacting… except may be for animaics and anyone else I missed.
Why are you all “boycotting” their movies? Is there something wrong? Would you rather have no movie at all? Boycotting the movies would mean Hollywood gets less money, discouraging them from improving! And anyways, not like they would care too much if you guys boycott it. They obviously do not make these movies for anime fans. They wouldn’t make enough money. This is an ADAPTION people, not a conversion!
And before you start calling me a fanboi of Disney, reconsider why yall are so upset at this.
And how are they “ending” a series? They’re simply enlarging the franchise. And they’re not ruining any series either.
If you guys think that you can sit on your butts all day and hopefully have some mystery movie company make a perfect movie that faithfully follows the Anime and watch it for free, think again. It’s not like it’s Hollywood’s responsibility to keep you entertained. They don’t have to make movies for you. And it seems they are not going to create a movie just to appeal to anime fans (which would probably be like 5% of the population at MOST?)
February 5th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Well Zac can play a different role like Kurz Weber or Leonard Testarossa I am not saying he doesnt have talent since it alot harder to play leonard than sasuke I just will tell u he dont fit the role of sasuke. and i would really want him to play Leonard Testarossa. he is a complecated character to play but if he can do that that and i know he can i know he will earn alot of respect
February 5th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Yoshi its hollywood job to keep us entertain otherwise it will flop again and no i will pay to watch it if its worth it so will alot of people here dbe didnt enteratian people thats why it flop
February 5th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
abd yoshi who said anything of watching it for free we will pay for it if its good and no its hollywood job to keep us entertain otherwise it will end up like DBE a flop
February 28th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
They should make the movie, but they better pick the right cast, at least make the cast fit the character’s gender, age, and race, unlike what happened to The Last Airbender where there’s barely any asian race in there.
Sousuke better be japanese. Kurtz better be blonde. Melissa better be chinese. If Zac Efron gonna play a role, I would love to see him as one of the casualties cause he doesn’t resemble any character in that show anyways.
March 29th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Hi, my name is Zac Efron and i’m going to plaster my pretty boy face all over every little thing…Hi, my name is M. Night Shymalan, and this is my friend Michael Bay, we’re going to be doing a collab on a live adaptation of a popular japanese anime. I’m not gonna bother giving you any background on it, b/c we usually don’t read the stories for stuff anyways–to make a long story short, I’ll say about 300 million this time around.
April 9th, 2010 at 8:01 am
don’t trash zac i’m not a fan but i’ve seen his other film’s and the kids got talent everyone throws him off because of high school musical much like everyone threw of george reeves for superman and that drew him to his grave.Zac’s an actor with talent and has admitted hsm weren’t his type of movies.
April 9th, 2010 at 8:03 am
also anon get your facts avatar is an american cartoon you idiot! also mike and bryan the creators are producer on the film so it’s all good and if you haven’t noticed if you get past the race thing you’ll see it look’s more faithful than dbe and speed racer.
April 28th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Zac as sousuke??. Just let him portray Kurz, i think that will fit.. I have to agree zac has talent in acting but to portray sousuke?? That’s lame.
Hollywood please dont touch FMP. Just let Japan make a remake of FMP. Just like Yamato Nadeshiko. Its good as the anime. If hollywood insists of doing it into live action. Just choose a actor that fits sousuke’s personality, just to make it a win- win situation.
April 28th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@yoshi- You ins@l3nt f**l can you imagine sousuke singing with kaname right in the middle of the battlefield. That’s the image it will emit to all the FMP fan’s around the world.
June 15th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
NO!!!! There is no effing way! I hope this isn’t true! It would destroy FMP’s reputation! And hell no to Zac Efron as Sousuke Sagara!!!
June 28th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Idk… He’s an anime fan too. me personally as an otaku Id jump at the part of one of my favorite anime characters. He’s done good in all his movies and if he is truly a fan, then i think he’d know Sosuke well enuff to play the role properly. Hey He looks REALLY close to Sosuke and he’s definitely better then justin muthaf***ing beiber… he was the other rumored Sosuke
July 15th, 2010 at 10:49 am
if anything movies like this should be made by the brothers that made matrix switawski or something then u got a movie
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Look, I don’t hate Zac Efron, but I doubt he could pull off such a chracter role as Sousuke, Sagara; just no. I pray they choose their cast well – because disappointed fans only mean no profit.