Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series is one of the most renowned and commercially successful franchises that has ever been created. Over the years, the franchise has had numerous additions, including films, video games, merchandise, action figures, and a live-action film. While Toriyama-Sensei’s Shonen series excelled in every way possible, Dragonball Evolution faltered in every possible aspect.
From a subpar plot to whitewashing the characters, the film was a disaster that tanked big time at the box office. Well, for a long time, fans believed that the film flopped because it deviated from the source material.
However, in a surprising turn of events, James Marsters, the actor who played Demon King Piccolo in the adaptation, opened up about his experience. Especially how he was deceived into joining the cast and adding his name to the project, whose name adds a frown to the fans of the franchise.
James Marsters Recalls How Dragonball Evolution Flimflammed Him Into Joining The Cast
James Wong’s Dragon Ball Evolution stands tall as the most disappointing and ghastly addition to the Dragon Ball franchise. The adaptation mishandled the work at their hands because it had several causes, apart from the obvious whitewashing of the characters. As a result, the 2009 film met with severe backlash from fans.
To add fuel to the fire, James Marsters, who played the role of Demon King Piccolo in the film, opened up about his disappointing experience with being tricked into joining the cast.
While attending the 2014 Wizard World Convention in Atlanta via YouTube, he stated that he was told that the film would be directed by Stephen Chow, and had a massive budget of $120 million. He said,
Dragon Ball Z was important for me as a father, so I was really into it when I got the role. And they told me it was a $120 million picture, and that Stephen Chow was producing. And Stephen Chow is the director of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. Which if you guys haven’t seen his films, go get them, just fabulous. They’re funny, goofy, violent, scary: Everything you would need for Dragon Ball to work.
He further added that there was a sudden change of plans because Stephen Chow’s name was merely on the paper, and the film’s budget was slashed to a mere $30 million.
Due to the lack of budget, safety was a major concern and he was continuously put in harm’s way.
I get out to Durango, Mexico and it’s a $30 million picture and Stephen Chow is just on paper to fool us down into the desert. And they don’t even want to pay for the stuntman to get made up like me, so they never used the stuntman; they just kept putting me up on wires. I still have a separated clavicle from the shoot, because it was just gnarly. But I still wanted my son to at least like my part in it.
The ambition of James Marsters is praiseworthy because he wanted his son to be proud of him. However, it was not enough because, even with a convincing performance, the film managed to gross only $56.5 million at the worldwide box office via The Numbers.
Akira Toriyama Was Utterly Disappointed At Dragonball Evolution
Even though the 2009 film was an utter disappointment that kept the anime adaptation curse going, it turns out Akira Toriyama foresaw the result long before the film even hit theaters.
During one of his old interviews via Kanzenshuu, the mangaka stated he had “cautioned them, and suggested changes.” However, the screenwriters refused to listen to the creator of the series. He said,
Also, at the time of the Hollywood movie, the live-action Dragon Ball, the script had too little of a grasp on the world and its characteristics, and on top of that, it had a conventional content that I couldn’t find interesting, so I cautioned them, and suggested changes; but in spite of that, they seemed to have a strange confidence, and didn’t really listen to me.
Toriyama-Sensei concluded that upon release, it was a disappointing watch that had failed to showcase his magnum opus’ traits and a work that couldn’t meet his expectations. He added,
What came out in the end was a movie I couldn’t really call a Dragon Ball that lived up to my expectations.
Nevertheless, if the franchise decides to take another shot at creating a live-action film, then they can take a look at this flawless fan-casting that could make the adaptation a massive hit at the box office.
Dragonball Evolution can be rented on Amazon Video.
