Hiromu Arakawa’s internationally best-selling manga series, Full Metal Alchemist, is getting adapted into a live-action movie which promises to stay loyal to the source manga. The film’s director, Fumihiko Sori, recently sat down with Oricon to discuss the movie.

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In the interview, Director Sori revealed that unlike live-action film adaptations of popular manga titles like Rurouni Kenshin, Attack on Titan, and Chihayafuru, the story of the Elric brothers will be told in only one stand-alone movie, and remember, this movie promises to stay loyal to the source, so one might wonder how they will fit all of that story material in one feature-length film.

But while the movie promises to stay loyal, a few deviations are to be expected, and one of them is Edward Elric’s age. In the manga, Edward is only 15 years old. However, in the movie, to keep up with actor Ryosuke Yamada’s looks, he will take on the age of 20. Another change is the so-called “race-lift,” where the manga’s European characters are played by Japanese actors. However, Sori did promise that there won’t be scenes where the characters would identify themselves as Japanese.

Sori also admitted that he is a fan of the manga, and said that he really wanted to adapt the story into a movie himself. He said that he wants to “challenge Hollywood,” and will be using very good special effects to do so. He said that he will be using CG effects a lot in this film, and said that he will use CGs that are found in places that the audiences won’t notice, as well as CG effects that he wants the audiences to see.

Slated to premiere in Winter 2017, the film adaptation of Full Metal Alchemist will star

  • Ryosuke Yamada as Edward Elric
  • Tsubasa Honda as Winry Rockbell
  • Dean Fujioka as Roy Mustang
  • Ryuuta Satou as Captain Maes Hughes
  • Yo Oizumi as Major Shou Tucker
  • Yasuko Matsuyuki as Lust
  • Kanata Hongou as Envy
  • Shinji Uchiyama as Gluttony
  • Misako Renbutsu as Riza Hawkeye
  • Natsuki Harada as Gracia Hughes
  • Jun Kunimura as Doctor Marco
  • Fumiyo Kohinata as General Hakuro
  • Natsuna as Maria Ross
  • Kenjiro Ishimaru as Father Cornello