It’s been quite a while since we last heard anything regarding the Hollywood live-action movie adaptation of One Punch Man. Two years, in fact. When this news broke on the internet, we knew Avi and Ari Arad of Arad Productions for Sony Pictures were producing and had already signed on Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner (Venom, Jumanji) as the writers.
In an update that hit the entertainment website Deadline on Monday, June 13th, it was confirmed that the project is indeed moving forward and has signed director Justin Lin on to the project. According to the report, Lin has already begun working with the writers on rewrites and the team is hoping to begin production by the end of the year. As mentioned two years ago when the news first broke, Arad Productions sees this title as having franchise potential, which means they want to make more than one of these films (provided the first one does well enough).
One Punch Man started as a webcomic by artist ONE in 2009 before getting a remake by Yusuke Murata on the Tonari no Young Jump website, starting in June 2012. In the series, the main character is a superhero named Saitama who can defeat all of his adversaries with a single punch. Unfortunately, this becomes boring for Saitama, who just wants to find an opponent who is worthy of his strength. As of June 2022, 26 volumes have been released in Japan. Meanwhile, on this side of the Pacific, Viz Media has released 23 volumes in English as of October 2021.
The manga has received two seasons worth of anime adaptations. In 2015, Madhouse produced the first season while J.C. Staff produced the second season in 2019. Fans and critics alike have praised the Manga and anime. The manga series has been nominated for a Manga Taisho Award in 2014, an Eisner award in 2015, and a Harvey award in 2016. The first season of the anime was beloved by fans at the time of its airing, but sadly, the second season wasn’t as fortunate because of production issues that ended up turning fans off.
Source: Deadline
