Saiyan Island

Our friends over at Live Action Anime had the opportunity to speak with Shavon Kirksey (Emi) about her role in Dragonball among other things. You can read what she said about Dragonball below and the full interview here.

LAA: How did you get involved with Dragonball? Was there an audition process or were you called in?

Shavon: Yes, I got a call from my agency telling me to check my email because I have an audition for the Dragonball live action movie. So first I read on tape with the casting director, John Papsidera, then went to callbacks. The very next day my agent and manager called me telling me I booked it and that I am leaving for Mexico soon! I was so excited!! This is my first role in a film and I got to film out of the country! How fun is that?

LAA: Sounds like a lot! In the movie you play a character named Emi. Fans have been curious about this character as she is new to the Dragonball universe. What can you tell us about her role in the film and about her character in general?

Shavon: Well, my character was made up for the film. Emi and Chi Chi are best friends in the movie. We are the “it” girls on our high school campus, and we only like to hang out with other popular kids and the football players, so we can maintain our popular image. Everyone wants to be in our circle but emi wont allow it unless she thinks your cool enough [laughs]. But emi is a cool down to earth girl and she’s very smart, but she just wants everyone to see her as the perfect popular girl.

LAA: I’ve heard from several that there was a pretty quick shooting schedule? Did it feel that way to you?

Shavon: No actually, I didn’t feel rushed at all. The only thing that seemed quick was when I booked the part and left out of the country like a week and a half later to film. [laughs]

LAA: So what was it like filming down there in Durango?

Shavon: Actually my scenes were filmed in Mexico City. We were there for two weeks and after Christmas break production moved on to Durango. Mexico city was definitely an interesting experience, but we all had fun! My castmates were awesome! Which made this a great experience for me!

LAA: What was your wardrobe like in the film? We’ve seen pictures of some pretty interesting costumes. Did you get to wear anything cool?

Shavon: I loved my wardrobe! Im not gonna tell you exactly what I wore [laughs], but everyone looked really good, and we all had very cool and unique styles.

James Marsters (Piccolo) is attending Dragon*Con (August 29th-September 1st) this weekend, and while there isn’t a Dragonball panel, Marsters does have several Q&A sessions lined up.

A fan wrote a summary of today’s Q&A, and James happened to mention Dragonball. Nothing too new is revealed, but we’ll update this post throughout the weekend.

He was asked about what character he liked the most and what character he was most like. He said the guy from “P.S. I Love You” was most like him. Basically the character was down to earth – boring – (his words, not mine). The character he most liked was Piccolo. He said that with “Dragonball” he was more involved (he said he didn’t really offer a lot of ideas, etc. to the directors of “P.S. I Love You” and just wanted to do a good job unlike all the other stars of the show) and that he was constantly hashing things out with the director. He also mentioned that his stunt double did only one stunt for him and that the rest of the time he was the one making those leaps, etc. He mentioned that he was showing off for his girlfriend and the room kinda deflated. *grin* Then, after all that, he was like, “I liked Spike too.”

He was asked how he prepared for Piccolo. He mentioned that he’d seen all the episodes with his son, sometimes more than once, that he liked the “message” of the show. That peaceful, humble men =/= weak. Said it was a good message for young men growing up in today’s world, especially in the US.

A little more to add:

He said that the most enjoyable show to shoot of all was DragonBall because he didn’t really have a stunt man and did 99% of the stunts himself and he was scared to death the entire time (he said he has a weird sense of fun ).

Geeks of Doom has more:

“I didn’t have to do very much research,” he said of the film. “I have a son, so I’ve probably watched every single episode of Dragon Ball.”

The story was something Marsters really identified with, he said, adding that Goku’s nature to choose violence only as a last resort was a trait all young boys should be exposed to.

“Having said that, the hyper-violence of Dragon Ball has to be there, but in the right context,” he said. “I’ve had debates with my son about it.”

Movieland has 9 previously released photos for Dragonball in very high resolution. If you’re looking for a wallpaper featuring your favorite Dragonball character, look no further.

Coming Soon reports that the Dragonball trailer will premiere with Max Payne on October 17th!

ComingSoon.net has learned that 20th Century Fox will debut the first trailer for Dragonball in theaters on October 17 with the studio’s video game adaptation Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg, on October 17. We’ll have to wait and see whether Fox will release the trailer online earlier that week.

IGN, however, claims the date is not set in stone.

The first teaser trailer for the live-action feature film version of Dragonball will reportedly hit theaters in October. A studio source informed IGN that, while Oct. 17 is Fox’s “target date,” nothing is guaranteed until the special effects and requisite approvals are in place.

Discuss on the forums.

As it turns out the October issue of Roadshow has interviews with not only Justin Chatwin and 87Eleven, but with Chow Yun-Fat (Master Roshi) and Emmy Rossum (Bulma) as well. Here’s the continuation in English, provided by our very generous source in Japan.

Chow Yun-Fat interview
He saw the Japanese magazine which the press brought from Japan, the cover girl is Japanese actress Akina Minamai, and said, “Oh! Master Roshi loves her! Kawaii nee! (Cute, in Japanese)” he laughed and sat back in the chair and said in a deep voice “Welcome to Durango! Nice to meet you!”

He then talked about the Character of Master Roshi, “He is funny, very funny. (laugh) This is the first time to play a manga character in my career. Comic and movie is different, so I hope you will like my acting.”

And about his preparation for the role, “The script was very well written, I didn’t worry about it. Character is very fascinating and dramatic. The important thing for an actor is not money or work, but whether the character is fascinating or not.” He explained the similarities between him and Master Roshi, “He and I love ladies. But my wife is always around me, so I can’t be looking at ladies so much.”

He gave his opinion on Justin Chatwin, “I think he is handsomer than the manga character. I’m sure that the fans of the original manga will love him. And you guys, what did you think when you heard I would play Master Roshi?” the press said they were very surprised.

Chow replied with, “Who do you think suits the role of Master Roshi?” NO! Chow Yun-Fat is best! “Cheers! I will treat you to dinner later. Anyway, the movie is an adventure following the original manga and animation. Thank you for your support.”

Emmy Rossum interview

I am a big fan of Bulma. Because she is very energetic, sexy, and has a strong will. I think it is an honor to play the girl who is drawn as one of the smartest girls in the world. I will make the best use of her intellect, high motivation and reckless character which are drawn in the original in my acting. But because this is the live action movie, I have to do a little more three-dimensional acting.

I hope I can rightly play Bluma who the fans saw and loved, and I want to make them happy. I know how much responsibility I have, and I have a great love for her. I think I resemble her. Both of us will do what we decide to do, and we are fascinated with the boys. And we have a passion for the goal of our life and carry a torch for it.

She gave her opinion on Justin Chatwin, “I think he is wonderful. He acts the change of Goku growing up gradually very well. He, as well as us, was researching quite a lot to be able to play Goku properly.”

“Shooting is very fun. In a chasing scene, I had to hang down from height of 10 meters. That was a very exciting experience. It was a lot of fun to study. How cool am I since I can shoot a gun or ride a motorcycle for action scenes? (laugh).”

About the three-wheele motorcycle, “Well, it’s like a snowmobile with tires. It’s very powerful and can run at a maximum speed of 240 kilometers per hour. After the end of shooting I will bring it back home.(laugh)”

The magazine also featured a plot synopsis, which contains minor spoilers.

Story
After Grandpa Gohan’s dying request, Goku starts on a journey to find Master Roshi and gather the seven Dragon Balls to prevent the desire of Lord Piccolo to take over the world. In the course of his journey, Goku meets Bulma and using her Dragon Radar, they find Dragon Balls on the way. Goku arrives to Master Roshi, and he fights with Roshi. Looking at Goku’s fighting technique, Roshi finds that Goku is a grandson of Gohan. Master Roshi was Gohan’s master. Goku receives rigorous training from Master Roshi, and after a long journey, Goku approaches Lord Piccolo for the last time.

« Part 1 of this article

Remember Film Junk’s post on Fox not being pleased with Dragonball and considering a possible cancellation? Well, Superheroflix reportedly has a source that is very close to the film, who reveals the exact opposite. Maybe Film Junk needs to re-evaluate their sources.

The film was completed a while ago, and the reasons for moving the film’s release date from this summer to next spring was to insure that all of the needed special effects were completed. We have a source that is very close to the film. And he/she says that the first edit is done, and that it has been shown to those “higher ups” at Fox. And that they love the finished film. Our studio contact, who we aren’t allowed to name at the moment, worked on the production, and has seen the completed movie. Everyone involved seems to think they have a hit on their hands, and he even went on to say that it was “pretty darn awesome. There is certainly talk about a sequel. I have no doubt that it will happen. I’m sure that it will be a trilogy.”

If you are anxiously awaiting Dragonball, don’t be scared by these sudden rumors that the film is being scrapped or sent directly to home video. That is certainly not the case. Dragonball is still set for a April 3rd, 2009 release date.

Discuss on the forums.

Our source in Japan has translated the October issue of Roadshow magazine. In this issue there are new interviews with the cast and crew, and today we’ll be posting the interviews with Justin Chatwin (Goku) and 87Eleven (stunts).

Justin Chatwin interview
First of all, it’s an honor to play Goku, because he is a very important and epic character. He is always seeing the positive side of things, does good things, and always trys to help and take care of the weak, not only pursuing his power. He is a dependable and loving man as well as a boy. So I like Goku.

In preparation for the role, of course I read the original manga (all of it), in addition, I read Monkey King a little, because Dragonball is based on Monkey King. And during the break time of shooting, I got into Goku’s character, telling jokes with other cast in search of the real communication which can be used in acting.

This is the most interesting movie for me. Because I have never fought with anyone though, I trained martial arts and acrobat, and then we shot it. That’s fun as well as challenging. Fighting with Eriko (Tamura), she punched me in the face, actually she intended to hit lightly, but…it was a clean hit (laugh) She said “I’m sorry!” and apologized to me, but thanks to her, we could shoot very powerful action scene. Through this work, I think I could learn a lot of things.

I like Durango very much. Because a lot of my favorite movie like “The Wild Bunch” was shot here. And there are locations like sand dunes, cave, lava field and rocky hill like the Grand Canion, so I think the background of this movie are very epic.

Highlights of this movie are the action scenes, and amazing visual effects will be made at post production, so I’m looking forward to see it. About Kamehameha I only can imagine it now. I’m so excited. And this movie is the coming-of-age story about a boy, though this is set in a sci-fi world, in my opinion, my best scene is the moment when the characters who got together for the same purpose relate to each other.

Action coordinator 87eleven staff interview
Each characters has a different fighting style. For example, Goku’s fighting style is a hybrid of capoeira, karate and so on. Chi-Chi’s fighting style is based on kick boxing (Muay Thai) style, Master Roshi and Gohan are based on traditional Chinese martial arts (southern style). Justin has good muscle strength of the lower body so to harness this strength, we let him do action. His capoeira motion is very good. He has no experience of martial arts at all, we had to teach him from scratch. But he is doing very well for two months training period.

Highlight of this movie is fighting with Goku and Piccolo, I think it has a tremendous impact. Goku and Gohan’s fight is comical, and Chi-Chi does Jackie Chan-like battle. Each character has a unique twist on martial arts.

Part 2 of this article »

File this under one huge rumor from Film Junk.

When it was first announced that a Dragonball movie was actually happening, a lot of people couldn’t comprehend how such an over-the-top, stylized animated series would possibly work in a live action setting. Then Stephen Chow came on board as a producer and suddenly it seemed like there might be hope. Of course, the movie was originally supposed to be ready for this summer, but Fox ended up pushing it back to April 2009. No official explanation was given, but some wondered if it might be the first sign of trouble. The fact that the movie also had no presence at the San Diego Comic Con only deepened suspicions.

This week we received word from an anonymous source that there may be some truth to this speculation after all. According to our tipster, the higher-ups at Fox are not too impressed the footage that has been shot thus far, and are seriously debating shutting the whole thing down. Now I have no idea if this is a real possibility or if the studio is just putting pressure on director James Wong to deliver, but the movie supposedly has a budget of over $100 million and I can understand them wanting to cut some losses while they still can. The thing is, if this is all true, it only makes me that much more interested to see the movie. If it it’s strange enough to scare the suits, it’s gotta be good, right?

Again, this is only a rumor, and I wouldn’t worry yet. But one can only wonder why Fox is being so secretive.

UPDATE: I contacted Film Junk to get to the bottom of this rumor.

I wouldn’t have posted it if the guy didn’t seem trustworthy. He has e-mailed me a number of times previously and I do believe him. He has nothing to gain by making up a story like this.

Take that for what it’s worth I guess!

UPDATE 2: 20th Century Fox states the information reported was false and the film is still scheduled for an April 2009 release.