Your Name is a film about two teenagers, Taki (voiced by Ryunosuke Kamiki in Japanese and Michael Sinterniklaas in English) and Mitsuha (voiced by Mone Kamishiraishi in Japanese and Stephanie Sheh in English), who discover they are intermittently swapping bodies. After getting past the initial confusion of the situation, the two learn to communicate with one another and slowly start to form a friendship. As the mystery unravels, it later becomes apparent that the two are not only separated by distance but by time as well. Their connection may just be the key to saving an entire town from annihilation.

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As reported by Variety, López Estrada has been tapped to rewrite the script, which had been previously handled by Eric Heisserer (known for his work on Arrival and Bird Box). López Estrada, an Academy Award-nominated writer and director from Mexico is also being tapped to direct. He’s known for his films Blindspotting, Summertime, and 2021’s Raya and the Last Dragon. He’s also directed an episode of Legion. López Estrada is also directing a live-action remake of Disney’s Robin Hood. An animated documentary, which is set to release in 2023, is also in the works for him. His profile appears to be rising quickly.

Your Name has plenty of qualities that make it well-suited for a live-action adaptation but also has some qualities which make it better suited to animation. Namely, the film has some vibrant, sweet characters that can be brought to life by the right actors, but the film also has some gorgeous animation that is an art form in itself. The film is also uniquely Japanese, as several cultural practices are woven into the plot and the setting depicts both rural and urban Japan.

It’s not currently known how the live-action Your Name film will handle the setting, including if the film will still take place in Japan or if Japanese-American actors may be brought into an Americanized story. Of course, there’s the possibility that the film may be flat-out whitewashed. Hopefully, it retains respect for the Japanese original.

Your Name is in development.

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Source: Variety