Fast And Furious’ Best Director Helming One-Punch Man Movie
One-Punch Man has landed a new director who is coming over from the Fast & Furious franchise and this is a big add for the new franchise
It hasn’t taken long for Justin Lin to land a new gig and this next movie could be the start of another major movie franchise. Who needs Fast & Furious anyway? There are plenty of stories out there looking for some of the best directors in the industry. And Justin Lin is just that. Deadline is reporting that Lin has now signed on to helm the live-action adaptation of One-Punch Man, a movie that could make major waves on the big screen in the coming years. While details around this upcoming One-Punch Man are light right now around who else could be involved, this is a major move for Sony in securing one of the more respected action directors in the game right now.
At its heart, One-Punch Man is a rather simple story in that the title pretty much says it all. In this world, Saitama is a fighter who’s developed the skills and strength to defeat his opponents with one single punch. But this singular skill has left him pretty bored and others have failed to really take notice of his skills. So starts a story of him operating in a world that’s full of machines, monsters, and other heroes looking for their own glory. The One-Punch Man franchise started back in 2009 and has gained massive popularity over the years. It’s grown the story and world much bigger than just Saitama and this is what Sony is looking to work with when they start up the live-action adaptation of the film.
In the decade-plus since One-Punch Man first came out in webcomic form, there have also been anime and video game adaptations of the story. The animated series has run for two seasons with 24 episodes in total. It aired in the United States on the Adult Swim block and has been a massive hit in both Japan and the US as well. And it’s also one of the best manga series ever sold, topping out at more than 30 million copies over the last few years. Again, this franchise could have real staying power in movie form.
As for Justin Lin, well One-Punch Man wasn’t the original plan for the director’s next movie. It was supposed to be him at the helm of the final two Fast & Furious movies, Fast X had just recently begun its production. But Lin surprisingly walked away from that film following what was reported to be creative differences with franchise star Vin Diesel. Lin had directed Tokyo Drift (the third movie), as well as the subsequent three movies which were the third through fifth in the franchise. He then returned for the much-ballyhooed F9 which hit theaters last summer.
It’s not 100% clear what timeline Sony has for One-Punch Man in terms of production though signing on a higher profile and talented director like Justin Lin would certainly have the movie moving in the right direction. We could start hearing finer details sooner than later in what could be the studio’s next big box office franchise before it’s all said and done.
