Dragonball Evolution

Dragonball Evolution
Poster divided into five strips each featuring a different character
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Wong
Screenplay byBen Ramsey
Based onDragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
Produced byStephen Chow
Starring
CinematographyRobert McLachlan
Edited byMatthew Friedman
Chris Willingham
Music byBrian Tyler
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • March 10, 2009 (2009-03-10) (Japan)
  • April 10, 2009 (2009-04-10) (United States)
Running time
85 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$56.5 million[3]

Dragonball Evolution is a 2009 American superhero film directed by James Wong, produced by Stephen Chow, and written by Ben Ramsey. It is loosely based on the Japanese Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, and stars Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Chow Yun-fat, Joon Park, and Eriko Tamura. In the film, the teenager Goku reveals his past and sets out to fight the evil alien warlord Lord Piccolo who wishes to gain the powerful Dragon Balls and use them to take over Earth.

The film began development in 2002 and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first official live-action adaptation of the Dragon Ball series. Dragonball Evolution was released in Japan and several other Asian countries on March 13, 2009, and in the United States on April 10, 2009.

The film was both a critical and commercial failure. Critics and fans alike lamented the script, cast, and unfaithfulness to the source material. Additionally, it grossed only $9.4 million in North America and a worldwide total of $56.5 million against a budget of $30 million. The film was meant to be the first of a series, though all subsequent films were canceled. It is often referred to as one of the worst films of all time.[citation needed] The film has been accused of whitewashing and has had a negative effect on future anime-to-cinema adaptations, due to its casting, lack of loyalty to the source material, and failure at the box office.[4]

  1. ^ Goodridge, Mike (March 24, 2009). "Dragonball Evolution". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. ^ "DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. March 17, 2009. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Dragonball Evolution (2009)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  4. ^ "Top 10 Worst Movies of the 2000s". watchmojo.com. WatchMojo. June 10, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2021.