Naruto Live-Action Writer Courts Controversy: Can Planet-Busting Ninjas Ever Feel Real and Believable?

Here is a sentence guaranteed to make Naruto fans stare into the middle distance: the writer of the live-action movie says the toughest part is making it feel real and believable. In a franchise where teens summon chakra kaiju, the Akatsuki clock in like it is a salaried gig to yank tailed beasts, and Naruto and Sasuke literally terraform the scenery mid-argument, we are talking about realism. Okay then. Let’s dig in.

The plan: make Naruto feel 'real'

Writer Tasha Huo recently explained the approach in an interview with Nexus Point News, and she is not wrong about how wild this world is. Her framing is thoughtful, if risky.

"For Naruto, it was to ground it, to make it feel real and believable in the world of a live-action movie. When you watch it or read it, it’s so bonkers. It’s so good, but it is so bonkers. The rules you just sort of kind of take for granted because of the medium you’re watching it in, but once you translate it to real people saying real lines and needing to convey real plot. Yeah, that was the challenge but also the joy of it because they’re just so fun."

I get it. Naruto is delightfully unhinged. But there is a thin line between grounding something and sanding off the parts that make it sing.

The actual adaptation problem

Naruto is not one flavor. It is a blender set to maximum with the lid off. To even stand a chance, the movie has to juggle the tonal circus and make the chakra system look cool in real space without turning everything into a neon CG smear that feels like a rejected superhero effect.

• Supernatural ninjutsu and chakra mechanics
• Trauma-heavy backstories
• Ninja politics and conspiracies
• Cosmic-scale lore
• Summons, genjutsu, and cursed marks
• Friendship speeches at maximum volume
• Enough filler in Shippuden to form its own cinematic universe

Layer in the fan-favorite roster — Kakashi, Sakura, Hinata, Tsunade, the Naruto/Sasuke rivalry, the Akatsuki — and you start to see the tightrope. Also, if the movie pulls punches on power scale, it is going to feel off. This is a world where landscapes get remodeled by arguments.

So where is the movie now?

This thing has had a decade-long trek through Hollywood. It has been in development since 2015, then drifted in limbo until 2023, when Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi) boarded. Cretton and Tasha Huo actually finished a script in August 2024 — a minor shock considering most people assumed the project had quietly moved into the great filler arc in the sky. The latest wrinkle: Cretton is now busy with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which means Naruto is waiting until next July for its next big push. Translation: the gears are turning, just not fast.

What the movie needs to get right

No one needs Naruto to be realistic. What it needs is emotional realism — the beating-heart stuff that made the original work. Give us the mess: the scars, the dreams, the stubborn optimism, the rivalry that actually evolves. Do that, and fans will meet the big swings halfway. Miss that, and, well, someone is about to catch a Shinra Tensei.

Curious where you land on this: can a grounded approach coexist with planet-busting jutsu without neutering the fun?

If you want a refresher (or to judge from the source), Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are streaming on Crunchyroll.