I'm about two years late to the game, but I've finally seen the entirety of Attack On Titan. To give anyone curious further confirmation, I agree with fans that may be one of the best anime of all time. For that reason, you think I'd love to see director Andy Muschietti helm a live-action movie of the acclaimed series, but I'm now majorly concerned about that.
The Attack On Titan movie won't be on the upcoming movies in 2025 list, so I have plenty of time to get my thoughts out about this movie and why I'm so worried about seeing it on the big screen. Sure, I love seeing studios buy into high-budget anime adaptations as much as the next guy, but this may be too much for Hollywood to take on. For those who haven't seen the series and are worried about spoilers should they want to go into this movie blind, I'll explain this one without getting too in the weeds in terms of story.
Attack On Titan's Story Can't Be Covered In A Single Movie
When I first watched Attack On Titan when it first came out, I fell out of the series after finishing Season 1. So when the movie was announced, I was pretty thrilled and thought "Yeah, it won't be hard to do a movie about humans killing Titans." Flash forward twelve years later to when I finally finished the series, and yeah, it will be complicated.
Attack On Titan has a lot of arcs, and each one is more mind-bending and wilder than the last. What starts out as a show that seems to be like the fairy tale Jack and the Bean Stalk on steroids transforms into something more akin to Netflix's House Of Cards. If you've never watched the show, that may sound bonkers, but those who watched know what I'm talking about.
I'm sure some know that a live-action movie was already attempted in Japan, and critics panned it for deviating from the core plot. I agree that the AOT story should not be changed for the American adaptation of it, but I also am not sure how that happens. You're still able to make a cohesive plot even if we're talking about consolidating Season 1 into under 3 hours.
It's a story that can't be appreciated with a single movie, which puts a tremendous burden on the live-action Attack On Titan movie. I'm sure anime fans would love for a multi-film adventure that shows the masses just how amazing this story is, but will the masses show up for it? New IPs tend to suffer at the box office, and while AOT has a following, I'm not sure it has the mainstream attention to be a massive success worthy of a film franchise without a tremendous run at the box office.
There Are Parts Of The Story That Need To Be In The First Movie, But Will Only Make Sense Much Later
I promised for those not up on spoilers I wouldn't dive into story details on why making an Attack On Titan movie might be difficult, but those who have seen it likely know what I'm talking about. Simply put: this anime is a series someone can rewatch and realize that there are things that went completely over their head and showed major reveals in the earliest episodes. Can we expect those teases to still be there in this take on the universe?
If there's a plan, or even a chance, of Attack On Titan getting multiple movies, it's not even a question. Excluding those little hints will upset the diehard fans but be so much more satisfying for the unaware, who find out some of the bigger developments in the story much later on. Again, though, we've only heard about the one movie happening, and there was an unconfirmed rumor by Inside The Magic that Andy Muschietti exited the film in November of 2023. That said, with no further confirmation from any party involved, I'm not too inclined to believe that.
The other option is that Attack On Titan is made to be a one-off adventure, but the only way to do that is to change the story entirely. We've seen other anime adaptations like Avatar: The Last Airbender attempt to do that on the big screen, and fans agree it was a colossal failure. I'm here to say they'll do the same with AOT's live-action remake should it stray from the source material, and losing the fans is the best way to get something like this to flop.
I Fear The Reason Anime Fans Love Attack On Titan Will Be What Turns The Mainstream Off By It
I'm someone who grew up watching the iconic 80s and 90s anime of the time, and keep current with some of the newer shows out now like One Piece. Even so, I think I fundamentally misunderstood why people loved Attack On Titan so much until I witnessed the entire series for myself. My biggest fear is that the majority of the world interested in this movie also thinks this is mainly about humans killing Titans, and the premise evolving into anything beyond that will turn a lot of people off.
It's a shame, but ultimately why I think feature films are often a poor fit for manga and anime. There's no way a casual audience will be able to appreciate everything from the complexity of Eren Yeager's journey to one of the most badass female characters in pop culture.
It all culminates in a big message that after 94 episodes, it hits like a truck, and it would be impossible to deliver the same message with the appropriate level of gravitas. I guess if it does end up being true that the Attack On Titan movie lost its director and is in limbo, that wouldn't be the worst news for me. I'd sooner see the idea shelved than done poorly, and I hope whoever is at the helm of it knows what they're doing.
The Attack On Titan remake is in the works, though we're in the dark on when it may arrive at this point. I can only hope that when we do hear more we find the project is being handled as well as Netflix has handled its take on One Piece.
