From Majin Planet - Dragonball

Dragonball Evolution is a 2009 American live-action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball media franchise being produced by 20th Century Fox. The story centers around the adventures of the lead character, Goku, around his 18th birthday. The film began development in 2002, and is directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow. It was released in Japan and several other Asian nations on March 13, 2009, while it will not be released in the United States until April 10, 2009 in the United States.

Justin Chatwin was cast as Goku, and James Marsters portrays Lord Piccolo, the antagonist of the film. A video game of the same name will be released in March/April for the PSP.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Release 4 Merchandise

Synopsis

After his grandfather's death, Goku (Justin Chatwin) goes on a journey to find Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) and gather the seven mystical Dragon Balls before the evil Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) can. Along his way, he meets Bulma (Emmy Rossum) and Yamcha (Joon Park) who both join him to help him with his mission. When arriving at Roshi's place, he is not welcomed with an embrace but has to fight Roshi. Roshi soon learns that Goku is the grandson of Gohan (Randall Duk Kim) and thus trains him to prepare him for the ultimate battle with Lord Piccolo to prevent him from collecting the powerful Dragon Balls.

Cast

• Justin Chatwin as Goku: A powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical namesakes of the film.
• James Marsters as Lord Piccolo: The villain 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." 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." Piccolo was intended to look handsome, but Marsters and the make-up artist chose to give him a decrepit complexion, having been trapped for thousands of years. Although the make-up process tended to take four hours, the first time it took seventeen hours to apply, and Marsters had difficulty breathing. Ron Perlman was offered the role of Piccolo, but turned it down to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
• 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 Dragonball is stolen by Piccolo.
• Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi: Goku's mentor and Grandpa Gohan's old friend.
• Joon Park as Yamcha: A desert bandit that aids Goku and Bulma on their quest. 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.
• Ernie Hudson as Master Mutaito: Master Roshi's former sensei and the one who sealed Lord Piccolo away for centuries.
• Shavon Kirksey as Emi: A high school friend of Chi Chi. She is an original character created for the film.

Release

Though an American film, Dragonball Evolution was released in Japan and other Asian countries on March 13, 2009, nearly a month before its American release.It is also slated to be released in Australia on April 2, 2009 and in the United Kingdom on April 8.

It's release in its home country has changed dates multiple time. Initially scheduled to be released in North America on August 15, 2008, it was later moved to April 2009 to allow time to do additional filming and post-production work. The specific date has changed back and forth from April 10, then to April 8, and again back to April 10.

Merchandise

A film novelization written by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon, Dragonball: The Junior Novel, has been solicited by Viz with a February 2009 release date. A 16 paged sticker book based on the film was published by Viz on February 3, 2009.

On January 19, 2009, Namco Bandai Games and 20th Century Fox announced that a PSP video game of the same name based around the film will be released in Japan in March 2009, with a North American release to follow in April. The game will include all of the major characters from the film and feature various playing modes, including an arcade mode for one-on-one combat, a story mode in which players get to play as Goku through the events of the film, a mission mode where players attempt to complete specific tasks, and a training mode for practicing fighting moves. It will also offer an on-line battle mode.

The film's soundtrack, Dragonball Evolution: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack , was released in the United States on March 17, 2009 by Varèse Sarabande.