The much-awaited live-action remake of Makoto Shinkai’s hit 2016 anime Your Name (Kimi no Na wa) has found a new director, and it’s none other than Raya and the Last Dragon director Carlos López Estrada. The big news was revealed Monday, Oct 31, by entertainment news site Variety.
Estrada will join the current team to serve as both the director and writer of the remake. Marc Webb, director of popular films 500 Days of Summer and The Amazing Spider-Man, was originally tapped to head the project. The position was eventually passed on to Lee Isaac Chung, director of critically-acclaimed Munyurangabo and Minari, until he stepped down in June last year due to scheduling conflict. The initial script was penned by screenwriter Eric Heisserer, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street, Bird Box, and Arrival.
The upcoming film will serve as a reimagination of the 2016 version. In the original story, two Japanese high school students, one living in the rural countryside and another living in Tokyo’s bustling city life, found themselves magically swapping bodies.
In a 2018 interview with Heisserer, the screenwriter said the Japanese rights holders of the upcoming live-action remake want to see the story “through the lens of a western viewpoint.”
Carlos López Estrada is a Mexican Academy Award-nominated director. His most popular works include the 2018 comedy-drama film Blindspotting and Disney’s action-adventure Raya and the Last Dragon.
Aside from the much-awaited live-action remake of Your Name, Estrada is also slated to direct Disney’s upcoming live-action of Robin Hood.
Read More: The First Slam Dunk Movie Will Have IMAX, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Cinema Screenings in Japan
