Paramount seem to be getting cocky lately. Sure, Sonic was succesful and there's a lot of hype for the sequel, but announcing a third movie and a spin-off series already has people thinking they've jumped the gun. And now they've picked up another Japanese series to add to their slate of Hollywood adaptations, according to Deadline.
Beyblade started life as a line of battling beigoma (Japanese spinning tops) produced by Takara (now Takara Tomy) in Japan in 1999. They were brought to the west by Hasbro in 2001, followed shortly by the anime. For a while they were the hottest thing on elementary and middle school playgrounds worldwide, getting banned by teachers who took the "blade" part of the name a bit too seriously and thought they could take someone's eye out. Eventually Yu-Gi-Oh! came along and people started to move on like they would with any fad, but Beyblade today is far from dead. The anime is currently on its twelfth season and you can still get them from toy stores.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the man behind Top Gun and the Pirates of the Carribean franchise, is attached to the project at Paramount. Neil Widener and Gavin James are writing the scripts - neither have much of note on their IMDB pages but they're both also writing Now You See Me 3 and San Andreas 2. No, not GTA San Andreas; a sequel to that movie with The Rock and the earthquakes.
In my eyes the vague aura of nostalgia surrounding Beyblade makes it ideal for a live-action adaptation. The anime was one of the first I remember seeing, and of course I had the toys and the PS1 game. But other than that banger of an OP I couldn't tell you a thing about the series, beyond that it was your standard tournament arc battle shonen type beat, and I think a lot of people in their 20's remember it the same way. My point is, unlike Sonic or Pokemon, Beyblade doesn't have the kind of fanbase that'll scrutinize every detail of anything that comes out of the series, so maybe Paramount can be a bit more lax with the source material without causing too much shit this time. Throw in a decent tournament set-up, passble CG and competent writing that uses "Let it rip!" appropriately and I'll be satisfied.
Do you guys remember Beyblade during its heyday? Did you ever watch the anime? Could a live-action work? Let us know below!
