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Following the significant global box office earnings of anime films, especially Demon Slayer, industry voice actors have expressed concerns that Hollywood is poised for a “takeover” and may replace them with celebrity talent.
The English-language cast of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen voiced this concern during an interview with Polygon at New York Comic-Con. The actors cited the financial success of films like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which earned a reported $600 million worldwide, as the catalyst for Hollywood’s increased interest.
“Hollywood will try to look at this and be like, Oh, man, anime films, let’s go, right?” Kaiji Tang who voices Gojo Satoru said.
Hollywood has already made significant inroads to capitalize on the anime medium and its popularity, often through live-action adaptations.
While streaming services have led this trend with productions like Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop and One Piece, major Hollywood studios are also eyeing the prize. The best example of this is the upcoming live-action adaptation of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, which is in development as a joint project between Japanese rights-holder Bandai Namco Filmworks and Legendary Pictures, the production company behind major U.S. blockbusters.
And, as Demon Slayer‘s latest film eclipsed the runs of some Hollywood titles in North America with its USD128.6 million box-office collection, it is possible that a more aggressive stance will be taken in the future.
Tang, however, feels that Hollywood might try to replicate Demon Slayer‘s success without really understanding the formula. Demon Slayer, he noted, had developed its fanbase over five years, 63 episodes, and a previous movie, Mugen Train, before its latest film’s release became a phenomenon.
“…I think the true formula to an anime film’s success is you really need those build up seasons,” the voice actor said. “To see the culmination of that story, or at least a very big part of it, on the big screen is kind of a reward for being there for all those seasons. That’s when you get the huge Demon Slayer numbers. That’s when you get all these fans hype for the movie, that’s the secret. I think if you just started releasing random anime movies, you’re not going to get the Demon Slayer numbers.”
The interest is not one sided though, with recent developments suggesting that anime distributors too want the tag of Hollywood associated with titles to make it more appealing for audiences and build the hype. Unfortunately, voice actors have their own concerns regarding this.
Robbie Daymond, the voice of Megumi Fushiguro, stated he was “honored to be the last generation of boots on the ground voice actors doing anime.” He predicted that as “corpos get a hold of it,” the industry would see “a bunch of celebs poorly dubbing anime.”
Kayleigh McKee, who voices Yuta, opined that the financial success would not be passed on to the current voice cast. “They’re not gonna increase our pay,” McKee said. “They’re just gonna go get a celebrity.”
The actors’ concerns mirror a pattern that has already been seen in the video game and film industry, and one that seems to be creeping in on the anime industry, if the recent casting of Channing Tatum in the Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movie is anything to go by.
Tang summed it up with a witty quip saying Christ Pratt may be cast as Gojo.
In a separate interview with The Wrap, voice actor Aleks Le, who stars in Solo Leveling, stated that this trend was already impacting casting. Le said he had personally lost projects “because a celebrity, influence or even a singer was brought in instead.”
Le described “social media followings” as “a huge part of big productions nowadays” and called it “frustrating when decisions are based more on numbers than on performance.”
Celebrity voice casting has been a concern for some time, something The Cartoon Cipher talked about in this surprisingly nuanced video essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xESTunkEtec
But to use my own words, it’s my hope that we get celebrity guest stars for feature releases. Or, if they should take up a starring role, they should vet their choices diligently.
To give my own thoughts: Josh Hutcherson was really good as Shinjiro Hayata in Netflix’s Ultraman adaptation.
Mind you, there is a difference in performance compared to the other voice actors who are experienced in dubbing either games or Anime. That said, Josh honestly legit felt like an awkward teen thrust into this weird Tokusatsu world he’s barely prepared for.
His performance basically felt… purposefully awkward rather than just awkward as Anime dubs have been stereotyped as (because people really can’t get beyond the 90s or 2000s, can they?). And he grew into it with each episode and season.
Basically, he felt like a celebrity voice casting with a purpose beyond name recognition. Not that Steve Blum alone wouldn’t have been a draw too.
Returning to the matter at hand, I… don’t know if they’d readily replace career voice actors in Anime films. Especially if they are part of an establish franchise like Demon Slayer and Dragon Ball.
If anything, I’d say Studio Heads would salivate on the lower rates for dubbing they can give dub voice actor. If they can phase out unionized practical effects artists, you know they’d do the same with voiceover.
That’s not a good thing either BTW.
Either way, I do think there may be Anime movies like from GKIDS’s usual catalogue that will get theatrical runs. Maybe even redubs to “accomodate” celebrities.