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Another pale imitation as Hollywood’s JJ Abrams plans remake of Japanese classic ‘Your Name’

‘I will definitely not be watching any whitewashed c*** that comes out of Hollywood’: if this critic’s anything to go by, maybe not

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Hollywood does not have the best track record of remaking Japanese anime hits, such as Kimi no Na wa, or Your Name, into successful live-action films. Photo: Handout
Julian Ryall

Hollywood has a fairly dismal record of taking incredibly popular Japanese anime or manga tales and transforming them into live action movies, so there is justifiable concern among fans of Kimi No Na Wa that the planned remake is going to be a pale shadow of the original when it hits the big screen.

Plans for the live action version of the film – better known to audiences outside Japan as Your Nam e – were announced in September, with the apparent majority of hard core fans of the original unconvinced even though the legendary J.J. Abrams will be the producer and the screenplay is being written by Eric Heisserer, who was nominated for an Oscar for his adapted screenplay for 2016’s Arrival.

Fans are already sceptical about JJ Abrams’ live-action adaptation of Your Name, expected to hit theatres in 2020. Photo: Reuters
Fans are already sceptical about JJ Abrams’ live-action adaptation of Your Name, expected to hit theatres in 2020. Photo: Reuters
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Internet chat boards were abuzz with the news – and most of the comments were negative. The original film has won 16 international awards, is the second-highest grossing Japanese-made film and was in 2016 the fourth-highest grossing non-English film worldwide.

“I will definitely not be watching any whitewashed crap that comes out of Hollywood,” wrote Mirai Hayashi, a commenter, on Japan Today. “Tied of watching uninspired remakes.”

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Another commenter asked, “Why waste your time and money remaking it?”

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