J.J. Abrams Helming A ‘Your Name’ Adaption

Makoto Shinkai’s animated film Your Name was released in Japanese theaters on August 26, 2016, and it became Japan’s fourth-highest grossing film of all time. The United States got to see the movie last April, with the film’s success continuing to impress – it’s earned $355 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing anime film ever made.

Now, Paramount and director J.J. Abrams are pairing up to create a live-action adaption of Toho Co.’s hit film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

YOUR NAME GETTING A LIVE-ACTION ADAPTION

Abrams will produce the upcoming movie through his production company, Bad Robot Productions. Oscar-nominated writer Eric Heisserer will pen the screenplay.

The producer behind the 2016 original, Genki Kawamura, will return to work in the same capacity. Paramount will collaborate with Toho on this iteration of Your Name, with the latter slated to distribute the film in Japan.

The original Your Name was about two students who mysteriously swapped bodies with each other. In a statement, Shinkai expressed his optimism for the forthcoming western take on his classic:

“Your Name is a film created with the innate imaginations of a Japanese team and put together in a domestic medium. When such a work is imbued with Hollywood filmmaking, we may see new possibilities that we had been completely unaware of. I am looking forward to the live-action film with excited anticipation.”

Needless to say, Abrams has a lot on his plate. In addition to Your Name, he was also recently recruited to write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX.