A rumor was started back in 2019 that Disney will make a live-action movie of Dragon Ball. After buying Fox, Disney got the right to a number of properties owned by the studio. It included the film rights for Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball is one of the biggest anime franchises of all time. Despite being a Japanese Anime, it has managed to garner a huge fanbase worldwide. And it keeps growing. With its rights, Disney can make a movie on the anime; some even love the idea. Also, these rumors keep surfacing from time to time. But the real question is, will they?
Will Disney make a live-action movie based on Dragon Ball?
Disney and Dragon Ball put together could create something great. The studio also has a huge international market, including China and other Asian countries, and has made huge profits there. Plus, the way Disney made Marvel and Star Wars grow is also proof that it can do an amazing job with Goku and his team. But according to the records, becoming a distributor of anime is more profitable than making a movie in itself.
In fact. the previous movie made by Fox did quite terribly and was hated by the fans of the franchise. So, the incentive of making such a film is too high, and Disney is too smart to take such a risk. But Disney does have a history of making hits out of movies no one thought would work. But the chances of Disney making a live-action movie on the anime is quite low. But who knows, the studio could really decide to do it.
Previously made movies on Dragon Ball
There have been movies made on the anime before, not just animated films, multiple live-action movies have been made too. Dragon Ball made twenty movies, five of them even got a theatrical release in America. The first two did not perform as well, but the other three that followed were hits. The animated movies were distributed by Fox studios and proved to be quite profitable. Also, animated movies don’t require as much production budget but tend to perform well at the box office.
But live-action movies on anime do not perform as well as the anime itself. For example, Dragonball Evolution made only $55.7 million worldwide and $9.4 million at the domestic box office. There are two other movies made on the anime, one was Korean and the other Chinese. Not much is known about their box office earnings.
Disney could make a movie on the anime but looking at the risk, it really depends on whether the studio would really want to take it.
