There might be a chance of seeing a live-action adaptation of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind after all.
In a recent interview on Fuji TV's Bokura no Jidai talk show, Studio Ghibli co-founder, general manager and former producer Toshio Suzuki acknowledged that the studio has received multiple offers from directors wanting to make a live-action Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind adaptation. Well-known directors like Neon Genesis Evangelion's Hideaki Anno and Takashi Yamazaki, who is known for films like Always: Sunset on Third Street and the live-action adaptations of anime Parasyte and Space Battleship Yamato, have both repeatedly expressed interest in adapting Nausicaa. Suzuki remarked that he has always denied Yamazaki's offers.
Suzuki acknowledged that nearly every Japanese director wants to make a Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind adaptation except, ironically, Hayao Miyazaki, the director of the original film, as well as the writer of the manga it was based on. Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki have both long had a reputation for being notoriously protective of their intellectual properties. However, when asked how he felt about the idea of making a sequel to Nausicaa in a 2013 interview, Miyazaki replied that he was uninterested in such a project but that he would approve of Hideaki Anno taking it on. Miyazaki said, "I don't really feel like doing it, but Anno keeps on saying, 'I want to do it! I want to do it!,' so I tell him now that I've come to think lately that if he wanted to do it, it would be fine for him to do it."
Anno's connection to Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki actually spans multiple decades. Near the beginning of his career, Anno was hired as a key animator on the original 1984 Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind film. He specifically worked on animating the immense God Warriors during the film's climax, which would later influence the creation of his own anime Evangelion. In 2012, Anno once again teamed up with Studio Ghibli to create an animated short based on Nausicaa, titled Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), for a museum exhibition the studio was attending. Anno also voiced the protagonist Jiro Horikoshi in Miyazaki's 2013 film The Wind Rises.
Although considered one of Studio Ghibli's greatest films, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was actually made by Studio Topcraft shortly before it went bankrupt and was later revived as Studio Ghibli. The film's massive success enabled the foundation of Studio Ghibli, which has become one of the most recognized and critically acclaimed animation studios of all time. Studio Ghibli's incredible success led to HBO Max's recent acquisition of the studio's entire film catalog and even to the development of an amusement park based on its films.
Source: RBB Today, via Anime News Network
