Another anime character gets a flesh-and-blood counterpart as Emmy Rossum (Poseidon, Phantom of the Opera) signs on to play Bulma, the female lead in Dragonball, 20th Century Fox’s live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga and cartoon series. According to Daily Variety, Rossum joins previously announced cast members Justin Chatwin (The Invisible) as Goku and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer series) as the evil Lord Piccolo.
Dragonball began as a manga created by Akira Toriyama and published under Shueisha’s Jump Comics label. The books spawned a successful animated series, nearly a dozen animated movies and a line of video games that has seen more than 10 million units shipped to date.
Lensing Mexico and Los Angeles, the Dragonballl movie is being directed by James Wong (The One, Final Destination, Final Destination 3) and produced by Stephen Chow, the writer, director and actor behind the international hit Kung Fu Hustlel. Wong will be working from his own script. An earlier version of the screenplay was penned by Ben Ramsey, who wrote director John Singleton’s upcoming comic-book adaptation Luke Cage.
