Charles Melton in Talks to Join NARUTO Movie as Kakashi Hatake

Emmy nominee Charles Melton ("Beef" Season 2, "Warfare", "May December") is in talks to star as Kakashi Hatake in the upcoming live-action "Naruto" movie based on the manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton ("Spider-Man: Brand New Day").

"Naturo" is the coming-of-age story of teen ninja Naruto, who dreams of becoming the leader of his ninja village but also happens to have the spirit of a nine-tailed demon fox inside him. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1999 and 2014, with 700 chapters collected in 72 tankōbon volumes.

Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production. "Naruto" is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having sold over 250 million copies in 46 countries. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series.

The original manga was previously adapted into two anime series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which aired between 2002 and 2017. Pierrot also produced 11 animated films and 12 OVAs. The franchise also includes light novels, video games, and trading cards. A follow-up manga titled "Boruto" follows Naruto's son Boruto Uzumaki. A live-action adaptation was previously attempted in 2014 with Michael Gracey ("The Greatest Showman", "Better Man") attached to direct.

Kakashi Hatake is one of the main protagonists in the "Naruto" manga and anime, and the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Melton is a longtime fan of the anime and manga and is also extremely proficient in martial arts, holding a second-degree black belt in taekwondo. He competed in the Junior Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. A global search is still underway to cast the main young leads, including Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura

The "Naruto" movie is produced by Avi Arad and Emmy Yu via Arad Productions, alongside Jeremy Latcham, as well as Cretton and Jeyun Munford through his company Hisako.

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