Charles Melton is in close talks to play Kakashi Hatake in Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming live-action “Naruto” movie, Variety has learned.
The news comes amid speculation that Melton would be announced to join the “X-Men” cast at last week’s D23 convention. The global “Naruto” casting search began last month to find the live-action versions of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. The manga and popular anime series follow adolescent ninja Naruto, who dreams of becoming his community’s protector and leader known as the village ninja.
Variety has reached out to Lionsgate for comment.
Melton was recently Emmy-nominated for his role in Netflix’s “Beef” Season 2 alongside Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Cailee Spaeny. He received critical acclaim for his work in Todd Haynes’ “May December,” which released in 2023, and is also known for starring in “Her Private Hell,” “Warfare” and “Riverdale.”
Cretton is coming off of his box-office smash hit “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which has grossed over $800 million domestically, becoming the fastest film to ever hit the milestone.
The “Naruto” director got his start working in the indie film space with “Short Term 12,” which released in 2013 and starred Brie Larson, LaKeith Stanfield, Rami Malek and Kaitlyn Dever. After directing “The Glass Castle” and “Just Mercy,” he made the leap to big-budget studio films with Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which released in 2021.
Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu will produce “Naruto” for Arad Productions with Jeremy Latcham. Cretton is producing alongside Jeyun Munford through his company, Hisako. Back in 2014, there was an attempt to get a “Naruto” movie off the ground with Michael Gracey attached as director.
