Dragonball Evolution

Early English teaser poster.

Dragonball: Evolution is a 2009 live action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball franchise. The film follows Goku, played by Justin Chatwin, and his quest to obtain the mystical Dragon Balls before the evil Piccolo, 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 release in Japan on March 13, 2009, before appearing in theaters in North America on April 8, 2009.

An international trailer released December 10, 2008 uses the name Dragonball Evolution, however it remained uncertain if this had become the film's official title until Fox licensed the domain name "DragonballEvolutionMovie.com", indicating the film had been renamed.

A video game adaptation of the film titled Dragonball the Movie will be released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan in March 2009, coinciding with the film's release in the region.

Cast

• Justin Chatwin as Goku: The hero of the film.
• James Marsters as King Piccolo: The antagonist of the film. Marsters explained that this incarnation of the character is "thousands of years old and a very long time ago he used to be a force of good, but [he] got into a bad argument and was put into prison for 2000 years. It got him very angry, and he finds a way to escape and then tries to destroy the world. The cool thing is, anybody who has seen [Dragon Ball] knows that Lord Piccolo transforms into a character named Piccolo, and that is a whole other ball of wax. [...] Heroic wouldn't be the wrong term by the end, but it's a long journey." He also confirmed Piccolo will retain his physical appearance from the anime. Marsters is a fan of the television series, which he described as being "the coolest television cartoon in the last 50,000 years [because] it's got a Shakespearean sense of good and evil." He admitted, "When I got the role I had doubts. The more I live with it I realize that I am going to rock this harder than I have anything in my life."
• Jamie Chung as Chi-Chi: Goku's love interest. Stephen Chow had been interested in casting Zhang Yuqi, whom he worked with on CJ7, in the part.
• Emmy Rossum as Bulma: She aids Goku after her father's Dragon Ball is stolen by Piccolo.
• Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi: Goku's mentor.
• Joon Park as Yamcha. James Kyson Lee auditioned for the role.
• Eriko Tamura as Mai: She is a chief enforcer of Piccolo's and a shapeshifter.
• Texas Battle as Carey Fuller: A high school bully. He is an original character created for the film.
• Luis Arrieta as Weaver: A classmate and friend of Goku. He is an original character created for the film.
• Randall Duk Kim as Grandpa Gohan: The adoptive father and grandfather of Goku who teaches Goku everything he knows about martial arts.
• Shavon Kirksey as Emi: another original character created just for the film.
• Ernie Hudson in an unspecified role: He will play an acolyte in a temple who will aid Goku and his friends.

The singer Mario was turned down for a part in the film.

Sequel

Actress Jamie Chung, who plays the role of Chi-Chi in the film, has revealed in an interview with MTV that Fox is preparing to produce two sequels to Dragonball: Evolution. "We're signed on for two more," she clarifies. "Hopefully, I hope the movie does well. There's lots of places that Fox wants to go with this."

External links

• Official trailer at IGN
• Teaser at YouTube
• Trailer at YouTube