The popular anime series “My Hero Academia” is getting the live-action movie treatment courtesy of Netflix and Legendary. The film will be written by Job Harold (“Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “Army of the Dead”) and directed by Shinsuke Sato (“Alice in Borderland”). Mary Parent and Alex Garcia of Legendary are producing.
“My Hero Academia” is a globally-popular IP, with over 65 million copies (print and digital) in circulation. Written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi, the stories of high school students existing in a world where 80% of Earth’s population has some kind of special power (called a “quirk”) has spanned 36 volumes since launching in 2014.
A television adaptation, courtesy of Bones Inc. and TOHO Animation, just aired its sixth season (with 124 episodes total). That animated offshoot has seen three theatrical releases, including “Two Heroes” ($33 million worldwide in 2018), “Heroes Rising” ($29 million in 2019) and “World Heroes’ Mission” ($41 million in 2021).
This will be a relic of a nearly bygone era where getting a major live-action movie was a sign that your franchise or IP had broken into the mainstream. In today’s IP-centric environment, it’s almost a reversal of that notion, with studios often chasing down successes in other mediums in the hopes of folks will show up for a movie version.
The success rate for live-action anime adaptations is mixed at best.
“The Last Airbender” in 2010 and “Dragonball Evolution” in 2009 earned miserable reviews, a poor reception from the fan bases and failed to spawn ongoing feature film franchises. Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron’s adaptation of “Alita: Battle Angel” earned decent reviews and a cult fandom in early 2019, but $405 million worldwide was not quite enough on a $170 million budget.
However, since “My Hero Academia” will be a streaming-specific feature, a likely influx of early viewership is almost guaranteed. Reviews, word of mouth, fan approval and related variables won’t matter in terms of revenue or box office, but they will be what determines if this new would-be franchise goes beyond one-and-done.
