Destin Daniel Cretton is currently doing the press rounds for Spider-Man: Brand New Day ahead of its release, but the conversation keeps turning to Hidden Leaf Village.
Interviewers repeatedly press the filmmaker on what lies ahead after his Spider-Man flick, specifically if his planned live-action Naruto adaptation is next.
The project picked up serious momentum after Lionsgate kicked off a global casting search to lock down its core trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Speaking to Inverse, Cretton hinted that the upcoming film adaptation will only cover the first few story arcs/Team-7 missions, rather than bite off more than the film can chew. Said Cretton, "I'm a big fan of it and a big fan of [series creator Masashi] Kishimoto-san. I'll say that we are staying very close to what Kishimoto-san created. I think the biggest mistake we could do is bite off too much for one movie. I think what we're making right now is very exciting."
Adapting Masashi Kishimoto’s original manga is no small feat. We’re talking 700 chapters spread across 72 volumes; a massive run that fueled 720 anime episodes, over 400 of which were canon storyline.
For any filmmaker, there's probably temptation to skip the lighthearted origin stuff and jump straight to the high-stakes, fan-favorite arcs that transformed Naruto from run-of-the-mill shonen manga to an iconic work of fiction.
But Cretton seems determined to let the story breathe, prioritizing rich world-building and character groundwork before plunging Team 7 into the brutal betrayals and revenge plots that come later.
While still on his Brand New Day press tour, Cretton also opened up about how directing Spider-Man mirrors his approach to Lionsgate’s live-action Naruto film.
At their core, both Peter Parker and the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki are classic outsider stories built around identity, isolation, and heavy burdens.
Speaking to @Nerdtropolis, Cretton told the site, "I feel very grateful that I get to go from exploring the world of a character like Peter Parker to exploring the character of Naruto. There are a lot of similarities between the two characters. They’re both characters who have had some very tragic pasts. They make a lot of mistakes. They’re very imperfect, but at their core, they’re desperately trying to be the best version of themselves."
This comes after previous comments from Cretton where he disclosed his personal connection to the source material, growing up as half-Japanese in Hawaii.
Cretton stated. "Naruto's trajectory, his feelings of being an outsider, the feeling of having an ugliness or a monster or some part of you that you’re ashamed of, and then coming to realize that’s the part that makes you unique, that gives you your power. He added he, "always felt very connected" to the manga and that, "When I met Kishimoto-san, the creator, it just amplified that feeling of connection."