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
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
April 16th, 2009 at 5:20 am
April 28th, 2009 at 7:03 am
April 28th, 2009 at 7:51 am
April 28th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
May 5th, 2009 at 6:04 am
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
May 20th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I’d still cringe when I saw Zac, though…
May 30th, 2009 at 7:01 am
June 8th, 2009 at 10:48 am
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
Heh, the series is screwed
July 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
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
July 14th, 2009 at 9:53 am
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
it’ll make people that have no idea about anime
watch it because he’s in it
July 18th, 2009 at 2:34 am
July 18th, 2009 at 2:37 am
July 18th, 2009 at 2:49 am
August 7th, 2009 at 4:17 am
August 8th, 2009 at 10:12 am
August 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
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
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
September 26th, 2009 at 2:03 am
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
October 27th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
November 1st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
December 5th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
January 25th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
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
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
February 5th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
February 5th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
February 28th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
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.