Bakugan Goes Live-Action
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Bakugan. In fact, I wasn’t really aware of it myself until I asked my wife, who happens to work in retail, what had been selling really well. I half-expected her to say Pokemon but instead, she mentioned Bakugan Battle Brawlers. The title alone was very off-putting for me — I’m not fond of alliteration, you see — but I figured I should try to learn something about it, seeing as I moonlight as an anime journalist.
In short, it’s a shonen anime geared towards younger audiences featuring kids who battle each other with cards and monsters. Someone once described it to me as Yu-Gi-Oh! on steroids — though, I imagine any six year old would dispute that description. So, I get that it’s popular with the kids, but just how popular could it be? Apparently enough to warrant a live-action adapatation.
Rather than getting a no-name director, or baiting M. Night Shyamalan with the prospect of success, The Karate Kid director Harald Zwart has been attached to the project. His last film, The Karate Kid, did extremely well at the box office, so at least there’s that. I’m just trying to wrap my head around how he could possibly make this project work as a live-action film. Let’s just hope it’s as good as that fan-made Pokémon Apokélypse live-action trailer. I would have seen that any day.
Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.