It has been confirmed that a video adaptation of the upcoming Dragonball film is in the works. No actual details have surfaced yet, but we did get this quote from Playthings confirming it from 20th Century FOX.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Twentieth Century Fox has appointed Gary Rosenfeld to the position of Senior Vice President of New Media Licensing, a role with oversight of the studio’s portfolio of video game projects and management responsibility for Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising’s (Fox L&M) games development staff.

Rosenfeld will explore opportunities in the growing PC online game space and investigate new business models and partnerships in the console publishing area. A handful of Fox properties will make it to the top of his list as he begins this new endeavor, starting with the studio’s major upcoming film releases and television brands, including Avatar, Night at the Museum - The Battle Of The Smithsonian, Ice Age 3, Dragonball, The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Also, Brian Tyler (DB movie score composer) has mentioned more about his work on the Dragonball film.

“I’m a Dragonball, you know, fan… [and] I agreed to take it before they shot it… So, I have this kind of habit of, when I’m a fan of something, I end up taking it before they even shoot it. And I called up to the, you know, director and said ‘Hey man, I think we can really make this, you know, epic…” in the world; the angle of Dragonball being a different world, that it’s kind of a parallel universe of what we are, but, it has a whole mythic, legendary aspect to it, like, ‘this has been going on for thousands of years’ kind of thing, so that’s the vibe of this score. Which we’re doing right now.”

New York Anime Festival has begun and we pretty much get confirmation that Dragonball The Movie will get its own panel tomorrow. There will be a “top secret” panel, so maybe we will get the trailer tomorrow? There is also a Dragonball autographing session, so expect a few of the actors from the movie to be there.

Day Two of the 2nd New York Anime Festival promises to be full of interesting and newsworthy events, including appearances by special guests Yoshitaka Amano, Hideyuki Kikuchi, the designers of Baby the Stars Shine Bright, and a “Top Secret” panel at 2:15 pm at the Anime News Network Theater. Now why on earth is there a picture from the Dragon Ball movie next to that panel’s description, plus an autograph session at 3:30 pm for Dragon Ball, I’m guessing it might be about… oh heck, just go check it out and see if this is one of the worst kept secrets in NYAF history or a very clever red herring.

Keep informed tomorrow for any possible movie news, spoilers, and media.

Source and thanks to dbthemovie.com for the heads up!

Update

This blog has stated that the top secret panel won’t be meant for Dragonball, but a secret guest that isn’t even Dragonball related. You can all thank this blog for providing false information. Now, this doesn’t mean all hope is lost for Dragonball to appear at NYAF. There is supposely a Dragonball autograph session going on as we speak, so we will keep you informed on that issue.

DBthemovie.com has received e-mail from FOX stating that the upcoming Dragonball film will be shown at this years Brand Licensing Europe during October 1st-2nd. We are not sure if this is the first preview screening or not and if it will be the entire movie or just early drafts. One thing is for sure though, that the film will be shown October1st or 2nd during Brand Licensing Europe.

Dbthemovie.coom forum member has also claimed the following statement.

The film is in final stages, 90 minutes long, likely PG-13, first in an on-going series. Major video game adaptation out next year, leading comic book company publishing new manga series based on movie. New animated television series in development.

Although most of this is very likely, a new animated series based on Dragonball is not. Keep in mind that this is only rumor. But why would a new cartoon series be made based on the movie when Akira Toriyama is most likely working on new projects for Dragonball aside from the brand new special that recently premiered. However we have already seen pieces of the manga a few months back, so the cartoon could happen. We will keep you informed.

Dragonball Live posted an article from the french magazine Cine Live that reports some Dragonball movie aspects from director James Wong and Producer Tim Van Rellim. They reveal what the ‘volcano’ pre release picture is used for in movie and if Master Roshi stays true to his manga character.

Is Roshi true to the manga character?

“Yes, somewhat,” said director James Wong. “We kept his main features, like his humor. But in the manga Roshi is a true sexual pervert, which wouldn’t work in a family film. So we removed that part of the character.”

“I discovered that Dragonball had such a rich universe that it would take several films to cover all of its treasures. My goal with this movie is not to convince existing fans that Dragonball is great, they already know this, but to give a new audience. More adults, as I was a neophyte myself before discovering the manga!”

Director Tim Van Rellim reveals the volcano

“Here, we can build a large [volcano], including the decoration of the volcano where the hero must take one of seven Dragon Balls.” The crater is impressive, gigantic artificial arena. “By day, the volcano is nothing. But at night, the lighting for the scene takes it to another dimension.” And that’s not counting the digital special effects that will fill the green screen with lava.

It’s finally here! The new Dragonball Z special has been aired and tons of new info about this special has been revealed. We find out who the new character Table is, who the new villains are, and much much more! In short, just read below!

Full Synopsis

It has been two years since Majin Buu was defeated and Satan has become a hero for defeating him. However, Videl remembers the truth of those events, and seems to be embarrassed about her father. A gigantic hotel is being built in Satan’s honor. Upon completion, Satan decides to throw a party for Goku and the others who fought with him. Meanwhile, Goku, Chi Chi, Gohan, and Goten have been making their living growing radishes. Videl soon arrives and asks Gohan to bring his family to the party. At first Goku doesn’t want to go, but he changes his mind once he hears there will be rare foods there.

Kame-sennin, No. 18, Krillin, etc, take off for the hotel and give Goku’s family a lift. Piccolo descides to not ride along, but rather flies after them on his own. The group from Capsule Corp. arrives at the hotel first, and when Vegeta and Goku see each other, they begin to fight. Goku realizes the party is starting, and heads off to the assembly hall. Apart from Goku’s family, Vegeta’s family, and Kame-sennin’s group, the crowd includes Dende, Mr. Popo, Karin-sama, Yajirobe, Yamcha, Oolong, Gyuumao, Kaio-sama, Bubbles, Gregory, Kibito-shin, and Elder Kaioshin.

Despite the fact that there’s supposed to be no media coverage of the party, members of the press appear and ask Satan questions about Buu’s defeat. While the “Z Senshi” are eating, two Saiya-jin style spaceships land on Earth. Piccolo and Gohan are the first to notice, then No. 18, and eventually everyone stops eating and the atmosphere becomes tense.

A sharp-eyed Saiya-jin and a small alien emerge from the two spaceships. Using his scouter to detect higher battle powers, the Saiya-jin soon arrives at the party. Upon seeing Vegeta, the Saiya-jin calls him “big brother”. The “Z Senshi” are all shocked by this sudden event. The Saiya-jin introduces himself as Table, along with his wife, Grey. Vegeta says that Table had been sent off to a remote planet because he had no talent for battle. Table begs our heroes to defeat Abo and Kado, who have ravished his planet and pursued him to Earth.

Goku says that if they’re strong, he’ll fight them, and Gohan wants to help as well. Goten and Trunks think it sounds interesting, Krillin and Yamcha say they want to try as well, and eventually even Kame-sennin wants to fight. Table measures their battle powers with his scouter, and says that they’ll be of no help since their battle powers are so low. Vegeta scolds Table for relying on his scouter, and as an example, Goku begins to gather ki. The battle power reading on the scouter steadily increases. It soon breaks as Goku goes Super Saiya-jin and then Super Saiya-jin 2, and Table is amazed by Goku’s power. Goku thinks it will be unfair to if everybody fights the weaker guys, and suggests they select a single representative to fight.

Goku teleports Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, Kame-sennin, Videl, Chi Chi, Bulma, Table, and Grey to Mount Paozu (this whole time, Satan, Fat Buu, Kibito-shin, and Elder Kaioshin have been ignoring Table and just go on drinking). Goku suggests that they each draw a radish, and the person who draws the longest radish will be the representative. Goten draws out a very long radish, and it seems he will be the one to fight. This makes Vegeta jealous, and he tells Trunks to pull out an even bigger radish. Pressured by Vegeta, Trunks pulls out a very thin but incredibly long radish, and becomes the representative.

Meanwhile, two other spaceships land on Earth, containing Abo and Kado. Pursuing Table, they arrive at Satan Hotel, and a panic erupts. Goku and the others soon return, and things clam down. It turns out Abo and Kado are remnants of Freeza’s army, who have taken control of Freeza’s planets now that he is gone. Vegeta also knows of them, and says that they were supposed to rival the Ginyu Special-Squad. Table says that the two have become much stronger, and that not even Freeza could beat them now.

Goku loses his enthusiasm when he hears that they’re “only” at Freeza’s level, and decides that it’s alright for Trunks to fight them. With some difficulty, he gets Vegeta’s permission to let Goten fight as well. At first Abo and Kado underestimate their child opponents, and they get clobbered and knocked into some boulders. They decide to get serious, and they each split into three people.

Trunks and Goten are completely unable to counterattack now that Abo and Kado have become six people. Vegeta advices them to sense their ki and locate the real Abo and Kado, but they can’t. Gohan offers to help, but they turn him down. They settle on having Gohan merely tell them where the real Abo and Kado are. With Gohan’s accurate advice, Goten and Trunks drive Abo and Kado to the wall.

Cornered, Abo and Kado merge to become even stronger, forming merged Aka. Put on the defensive by Aka’s attacks, Goten and Trunks use their secret weapon, Fusion. However, since it’s been so long since they’ve used it, they fail and become fat Gotenks. They eventually succeed on their second try, and Gotenks overwhelms Aka, using Yamcha’s Rouga Fuu-Fuu Ken, Tenshinhan’s Haikyuuken, and to finish him off they use Satan’s “Miracle Special Ultra Super Megaton Punch”, going Super Saiya-jin the moment they punch Aka. Aka crashes into a lake and it looks like the fight is over, but…

Aka rises out of the lake and is enraged. He lets out a giant energy wave, firing it from both hands and his mouth. It hits Gotenks and causes the Satan Hotel to collapse. Aka then starts shooting energy bullets, damaging each part of the hotel one after the other (this technique is called the “Wahaha no Ha/Wahaha Wave”).

In order to protect his friends, Piccolo deflects each energy bullet with a Makankosappo. Krillin uses a Kienzan to save No. 18 and Marron as they’re about to be crushed by rubble. Yamcha protects Bulma from the falling rubble by using the Sokidan, Yajirobe saves some people by slicing rubble in half, and Kame-sennin also protects a beautiful woman from the rubble.

Goku and Vegeta decide to finish off Aka. They argue over which one of them should defeat him, when Goku points and asks “What’s that?!”, causing Vegeta to look away. With Vegeta distracted, Goku takes off towards Aka, while Vegeta objects that that was dirty trick by Goku. Aka fires a Super Wahaha no Ha and Goku counters with a Kamehameha, then nails Aka with a punch with all his heart and soul behind it.

Aka is finally defeated and the battle is over. Videl tells her father that having his hotel smashed was a punishment from God, but brightens his spirits by saying she’ll help rebuild it. Goku also encourages him, saying that it can be rebuilt, and the party starts again amid the hotel rubble. As the party continues, Goku eats Vegeta’s sushi, who eats Goku’s Char Siu in return. Angry, the two finally turn Super Saiya-jin and begin fighting, as everyone else watches in amazement.

Table

Table is Vegeta’s younger brother, who was stationed on a remote planet due to his lack of battle prowess. He arrives on Earth, along with his wife Grey, to request Vegeta’s help in defeating Abo & Kado.

Abo

Abo, along with Kado, are former members of Freeza’s organization. Since Freeza’s defeat, they have taken control of some of Freeza’s former planets, including Table’s. They pursue Table to Earth, but unexpectedly encounter our heroes. The two face off against Trunks and Goten, but are no match for the younger duo, forcing them to merge into Aka.

Kado

Kado, as with with Abo, is a former member of Freeza’s organization. See Abo for more information.

Aka

Aka is the merging of Abo and Kado, who is formed to keep up with Trunks and Goten. Unfortunately, Trunks and Goten decide to fuse, forming Gotenks. Gotenks overwhelms Aka, until he unleashes a Wahaha no Ha. Goku soon jumps in and finishes off Aka with a punch.

Source

Screenshots and more info will be available soon when I open the section up dedicated to the new Dragonball Z special.

DBTheMovie.com posted a scan from SFX magazine which features a new interview with James Marsters (Piccolo). He reveals a few new details from the Dragonball movie.

Have you met any Dragonball fans?
Iam one. I watched every episode of Dragonball, and Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT.

How true to the anime will the Dragonball film be?
The thing to remember about the first film is that it’s not Dragonball Z, it’s Dragonball. There was an entire season of the anime Dragonball which no one really watches, because the lead character, Goku, is just a little kid. It doesn’t quite have the power of Dragonball Z. But it is the beginning and you just can’t skip past that. In the film, they didn’t make Goku a little kid - we meet Goku on his 18th birthday. So it exists in a world kind of between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in tone.

If you’re familiar with Dragonball, you know that my character - Lord Piccolo - starts out as a very old man. Which might be kind of a shock for people expecting the Piccolo from Dragonball Z. He’s the villain. He’s been in prison for 2,000 years, he’s old, he’s angry. His youth has been taken from him. He’s been searching for the Dragonballs so that he can turn himself back into his younger self. This is right out of the cartoon.

I fought to make him as old and ugly as possible. I wanted there to be a truly memorable transformation on with audiences going, “Oh my God, that young guy played that old guy?”

The first time we did the make up it took 17 hours. I think that was really down to me pressing for more age and more decrepitude.

Is there flying in the movie?
Oh my God, yeah. Lots of flying.

Bulma’s character, Emmy Rossum, spoke with MTV recently. She reveals a few spoilers including info regarding Piccolo and info about future DB movie merchandise including the video game and action figures.

With shooting completed for the live-action adaptation of popular anime/manga series “Dragonball,” actress Emmy Rossum told MTV News that she’s finally washed the blue coloring out of her hair and returned to a life sans catsuit and cartoon weaponry — but with a few new skills in her repertoire.

“In it, [I'm] riding a motorcyle in a leather catsuit, so that’s always fun — and I have five guns that spin all around,” said Rossum of her role as Bulma, the sometimes-partner to the film’s hero, Goku (played by Justin Chatwin). “I had never ridden a motorcycle before. I think I was more concerned about the safety of the people in the crew because sometimes I would lose control and veer randomly off into people.”

As for her character’s fondness for gunplay, Rossum said she’d never fired — or even held — a gun before “Dragonball,” but feels more than confident about pulling off her character’s trigger-happy habits thanks to some training with local Marines.

That calm-under-fire training will probably come in handy for the “Phantom of the Opera” actress, considering the level of scrutiny an adaptation of one of the anime and manga worlds’ most popular properties brings with it. According to Rossum, fans should be pleasantly surprised with the way the property has been translated to a live-action project.

“When I signed on to the project, I was a big fan of the anime and knew [Bulma] as the iconic blue, bobbed character and wanted to stay true to that — but we also wanted to make it realistic,” explained Rossum. “So in keeping with the director and what the studio really wanted, we adapted her look to be a little more realistic and human, and little bit more believable for contemporary day. She’s pretty bad-ass, but still quirky and fun, and kind of ridiculous in the way she is in the anime.”

That doesn’t mean the legions of “Dragonball” faithful aren’t far from her mind, though. Rossum said her first encounter with “Dragonball” was the Saturday morning cartoon, only to realize that “it’s really so much more than that — from the comic to [the cartoon] to the whole franchise and brand, so many people feel such a closeness to these characters.”

“So, it’s a little bit stressful to play a character that so many people hold close to their hearts,” she admitted, “but you just hope you do it justice and they like it.”

Rossum also hinted at a few aspects of the film that should have fans guessing, telling MTV News that she’s “seen some wax molds” for potential action figures, and cautiously acknowledged that a video game based on the film was “a possibility.”

Possibly the most interesting tease she offered up was her anticipation of not only seeing “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum James Marsters appear on screen in his role as Lord Piccolo, but also “an incredible monster that I can’t talk about that is very, very tall.”

“It’s actually a very tall man — an 8-foot man,” she added. “It’s based on something else from the… You know, I can’t really say anything else.”

Motorcycle incidents and catsuits aside, Rossum said she’d be up for a return to the role in a “Dragonball” sequel, and vehemently denied rumors that the project was in danger of being cancelled or otherwise shut down.

“Oh, no. I really doubt that’s possible,” said Rossum. “That’s not going to happen.”

The new Nintendo DS game entitled, “Dragonball - Origins”, has officially released today in Japan. The set release date in North America is November 4th. You can preorder the game here. Read below for a short game description.

Dragon Ball: Origins follows Goku and his clever sidekick Bulma as they travel the world overcoming enemies and obstacles to collect the 7 Dragon Balls. In the shoes of Goku, the player must protect Bulma from incoming enemy attacks using special skills, such as fighting with his power pole, or unleashing a kamehameha. Combined with Bulma’s ability to invent machines and weapons, the intrepid pair make a formidable team able to defeat even the strongest enemies or trickiest of obstacles.

The innovative controls mean the player uses only the touch pad to control Goku. Players must draw lines or shapes to direct the character and control the action by tapping on the screen, for example a double tap on Goku followed by tapping on the Ka-me-ha-me-ha letters unleashes his devastating signature move.