Saiyan Island

MTV sat down with Emmy Rossum (Bulma), who spoke with them about what she has in common with her character in Dragonball.

“She honestly believes that she’s smarter and can do everything better than everyone else…which means we have a lot in common,” laughed Rossum about her character, Bulma.

It’s been confirmed by Fox that France will be getting Dragonball: Evolution a full week earlier than the U.S. on April 1st, 2009.

Now wait a minute… I can understand Japan, but France? South Korea is also snatching Evolution earlier, the same day as Japan on March 13th. So why are we stuck with April 8th?

This isn’t the first time Fox has pulled something like this. And because of this decision, the film will undoubtably suffer from piracy and thus lose money. As someone who is legitimately excited to see the movie, I just don’t see the reasoning. What do you think?

Justin Chatwin (Goku) and Emmy Rossum (Bulma) were interviewed by Sankei Shinbun, a Japanese newspaper. We’re once again provided with a translation.

“There are a lot of Dragonball fans all over the world. I was always thinking what the fans were thinking, I felt responsibility,” said Chatwin, who was chosen as Goku, with a serious face.

“He totally devoted himself to practice the role, so when he stepped into a dangerous area, no one could approach him,” said Rossum. Chatwin responded with a joke, “I was thinking it was my mission to fight against the bad guys of Mexico City.”

“Dragonball” tends to be thought of “for kids,” but Chatwin says “the movie is the story of Goku coming to be a warrior. It will be enjoyable for both children and adults, even non-fans.” Rossum adds, “The movie is also devoted to the adult fans who grew up with Dragonball.”

V-Jump magazine has new screenshots of the recently announced PSP-exclusive game from Bandai Namco. We’ve got scans of the magazine thanks to our source in Japan. Click to enlarge.

In addition, V-Jump and other Shueisha publications will be giving away pre-screening tickets to 7,000 people. The pre-screenings will be held March 10th across 8 theaters in Japan. That’s 3 days before the Japanese premiere.

Bandai Namco Games and 20th Century Fox have officially announced the upcoming Dragonball: Evolution video game exclusively for the PSP. The game tie-in is set to release March 19th in Japan and sometime in April in North America. We’ve included a snippet of the press release and screenshots below.

Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President, New Media for Fox L&M, added, “Dragon Ball is one of the most successful manga series of all-time and the upcoming film and videogame will only build upon its unprecedented popularity. I can’t wait for fans to get a taste of these latest installments to the franchise.”

In Dragon Ball: Evolution for the PSP system, ultimate powers collide as players match up against their favorite characters from the film release and battle for control of the seven sacred Dragon Balls that have the power to grant any wish. Dragon Ball: Evolution employs an easy-to-learn yet difficult to master fighting system which provides everyone the power to pull off stylish and dynamic attacks. Ki (energy) management will be essential to gain the upper hand and unleash a devastating attack on their unsuspecting opponents.

Toywiz is now accepting pre-orders on a new series of action figures from Bandai for Dragonball: Evolution. There’s a wide variety of toys to choose from, including 4-inch Goku, Yamcha, Roshi, Piccolo, Bulma, Goku with Fangs and Fulum, 6-inch Goku, Yamcha, and transforming RX Trike, 8-inch Yamcha’s Off Road Vehicle, a life-size replica of Goku’s extending Bo Staff, the Dragonball Alter, Goku’s Kamehameha Shooter, and Oozaru the Big Monkey, all of which are expected to release in March. Prices range from $9.99 to $49.99.

The January issue of Japanese magazine Cinecon Walker has a new interview with Justin Chatwin (Goku) and Emmy Rossum (Bulma). Thanks to our source in Japan we have a translation.

Justin: To be honest, I felt strong pressure. Because my friends are all fans of Dragonball.

Emmy: Me too. I felt anxious because I’m a (Dragonball) fan and love the comics and anime. But when I got the role, I was incredibly happy. So I decided to enjoy it and to do my best as Bulma.

Justin: To me, to play Goku is such an honor.

The story of the movie is veiled in secrecy at this time. According to Justin, It seems that Goku will appear as a high school student.

Justin: Goku can’t fit in high school. A kind of outsider. And the death of his grandfather sets his fate up. So he starts on his journey and follows a different path.

Emmy: Bulma is a character who teams up with him. So we we get along pretty well. I acted a comical part with Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi. We were in Mexico and we could only speak English, so the three of us got together very well. I’m sure that our good team work will come through on film.

Justin: There are many action scenes that the director James Wong did carefully with visuals effects.

It seems that Justin had to train hard for the role.

Justin: For five months of shooting, I went to the gym after each day and worked out. I drank protein six times a day. So I was called the “Crazy Ninja” in Mexico City (laugh).

Emmy: Yeah, he was like a beast (laugh). Unlike Goku, my action scenes are using weapons and inventions. It was very hard but I think it made me mentally stronger.

Finally, we asked them about Japanese comics consistently coming to Hollywood in live-action.

Emmy: I think it’s because they have wonderful stories. In addition, they’re universal. It’s not surprising that Hollywood wants to make them into films.

Justin: Hollywood is superior in the technical things such as VFX, and they have various techniques in storytelling so that they can make Japanese comics into film. This movie too, it’s a condensed version of the original comic’s epic story. It’s difficult to express themes like Goku’s spiritual awakening verbally, but on film it can be easily expressed for kids to understand.

The official American website for Dragonball: Evolution is finally up! All that it contains right now is the domestic movie trailer (posted yesterday), but hopefully more content will be added soon. Click the logo below to go to the site!