Writer and director Destin Daniel Cretton has been onboarded at Lionsgate to both write and direct the upcoming Naruto live-action adaptation, which has been in the works since 2015. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cretton, who has directed films such as Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, will also be working with Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu of Arad Productions, who are finishing work on an adaptation of the video game Borderlands.

With this confirmation of a director, it was also confirmed that Naruto’s original creator, Masashi Kishimoto, has given his blessing to Cretton as he takes the helm on this project. 

Kishimoto said in a statement that after watching some of Cretton’s films, as well as meeting him in person and seeing how open of a director he was for input, he is confident that Cretton is the perfect director to head this project. 

Naruto was originally released in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014 and has sold over 250 million copies of volumes in over 60 countries. 

The story itself follows a young Naruto Uzumaki, who hopes to become the best ninja in his village. Even when faced with criticism from his village, Naruto still goes into training and is assigned to a team which must learn how to work together, according to MyAnimeList.

While there is currently no release date or information on cast, crew or filming dates, those who are interested in this franchise can learn more about manga, anime, anime films and the subsequent sequel series, Boruto, on MyAnimeList.