OK - this could be an awesome project or just like any otter bad PC-Game movie adaption ala Doom or Hitman. There is still hope that somebody gets it and produce some quality work like Superman (the last one) or the Spiderman Trilogy. We have just to wait until some facts and credits are released from reliable sources.

About the Movie

And as I just found out - that some fans are already investigating and Wikipedia and IMDB have a lot information about this project which is since 2002 under development.

Dragonball is a 2008 live action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball franchise. The film follows Goku, played by Justin Chatwin, and his quest to obtain the mystical Dragonballs before the evil Piccolo (Piccolo Daimao arc (chapters 135-194) its fairly in the very first half of Drangon Ball series containing 519 chapters), played by James Marsters, does. The film began development in 2002, and is directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow. It is scheduled for worldwide release on August 15, 2008.

And in case this is true - that it starts with the first Saga and ends in the fight against Piccolo*legendary*, we have so much room for more to come like the Saga of Vegeta, Saga of Freeza, Saga of Cell where Son Goku defeats the villain and the last Saga about Buu (Majin Buu). And we havn’t touched yet DBZ.

In case James Wong (Director, Screenplay, Adoption) and Ben Ramsey (Adaptation) and others exceed exceptionally their current credits, we will hope for the best, that this could be an comic/manga adoption which will enrich the movie world.

And YES - I watched many many many hours of DB and DBZ way back in my childhood.

Dragon Ball

‘Dragon Ball’ the manga series itself start December 1983 by Akira Toriyama, the series was published weekly and on a very tight schedule (14 pages per week, plus title page) for nearly eleven years, ending in May 1995. In total, 519 regular chapters and one bonus chapter were published. The anime series premiered in February 1986 on Fuji Television, running weekly and in prime time with new episodes every Wednesday night. In December of 1986, the first theatrical film version of the anime was produced. The anime series ended in April 1989 after 153 episodes (and Goku’s transition to adulthood). Although the animated series ended, fans did not have to wait long for the continuation of the story.

Dragon Ball Z

The sequel anime, Dragon Ball Z debuted the following week. In total, thirteen DBZ movies were produced. In May 1995, the long running Dragon Ball manga finally ended its run in Shonen Jump as creator Akira Toriyama had grown exhausted and his editors allowed him to end the series. Without additional issues of the manga to translate onto the small screen, DBZ ended in January 1996 after 291 episodes. Once again however, Japanese fans would not have to wait more than a week for the continuation of the story, in Dragon Ball GT.

Dragon Ball GT

During the production of DBZ in Japan, popularity for the franchise was at its peak. Ironically, despite tremendous success in Japan and tons of marketable goods, the series had yet to take off in the US.

The third and final Dragon Ball series quickly followed the completion of Dragon Ball Z in February. Unlike the two previous series, Dragon Ball GT was not based on the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. Instead, it was completely new material.

From the beginning however, there were problems with the series. Dragon Ball fandom in Japan was waning. To help renew interest in the series and bring it back to its roots, a decision was made to return the series to the style of the original comedy Dragon Ball anime, rather than the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z. This decision led to the reintroduction of several villains not present since the original series, a return to the “Dragon Ball quest”-style plot of that series, and even the mystical de-aging of Goku, back to roughly the age he was when the first series began. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this creative change did not improve ratings and the series focus was changed again after the completion of only sixteen episodes. The remaining episodes of the series returned to the more action-oriented style of the latter series. As a result of declining interest, the series had ended in November 1997 after only 64 episodes. There was no sequel the following week.

Unofficial pictures from a film set in Mexico

Manga - DB, Piccolo vs. Goku