First Look: Justin Chatwin as Goku in Dragonball

Posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 6:25 pm by: Peter Sciretta

DBlive has posted what appears to be the first possibly official photo of Justin Chatwin as Goku from 20th Century Fox’s upcoming DragonBall live-action movie. The scan was said to be taken from the Japanese magazine Shonen Jump #24. Updated with a higher quality image. As always, click to enlarge.

via: DBthemovie

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Eric Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

I hope that fireball that he’s holding sets him and this whole trash film on fire.

Jojo Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

^ I hope you die a horribly.

This movie rocks.

Jordan Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

I really hope this movie is good. my only hope for it is Stephen chow producing it…if his hand comes off of it…then i will worry.

Captain Awesome Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Emo Goku gonna shoot fireballs made of tears and hairgel

Jackson Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 7:13 pm

That does not look remotely like Goku.

Flint Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 7:16 pm

Probably because it’s, y’know, not a CARTOON.

duca Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

Why is Goku a white boy…? Does this boy know martial arts…? I am so confused… at least Chow Yun Fat is in it so it can’t totally suck, right…?

LOTNorm Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

@Captain Awesome

Now that’s funny.

There are tons of people that hope this film doesn’t suck (myself being one of them), but so many things say it will… which makes me feel a little emo…

Then again, who hasn’t felt a little emo? They’re so soft.

Patrick Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:06 pm

YOU KILLED ME CHILDHOOD YOU FUCKERS!!!!!BURN IN FUCKING HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Patrick Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

YOU KILLED ME CHILDHOOD YOU FUCKERS!!!BURN IN FUCKING HELL!!!

Patrick Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:09 pm

YOU KILLED MY CHILDHOOD YOU FUCKERS! BURN IN FUCKING HELL!

LOTNorm Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

@Patrick

I like how the statement became less and less exclamatory with each subsequent comment/mistake.

cib3k Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:40 pm

I love anime, but never got into Dragonball. The few episodes I’ve seen were mediocre and the animation was just terrible. Never actually understood why it’s so popular.

I don’t care much about the movie either, but it should have been made by the japanese. I don’t think it will work with a non-asian cast. Justin Chatwin looks just plain silly.

Pill Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm

How are people complaining about his look?

Would you really want to see a human being that looked like the cartoon character Goku? What a deformed monstrosity that would be.

estrus Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 10:39 pm

Looks like bad bed-head to me.

r(_)b Says:

May 10th, 2008 at 11:21 pm

Ok for the people that are gonna watch it just expect it to be the crappiest movie and you’ll probably walk out of it saying it wasn’t as bad as i thought because i’m pretty sure if you hype yourself up for this movie you will be dissapointed. So do not get your hopes up for this movie if you watch it

www.myspace.com/coreywilson10 Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 12:05 am

Yessssssssssssssssssssssss
Cool!!
Im lovin’ this pic it’s true to Dragonball!!!!
Whoever is hating doesn’t know anything about Dragonball.
Justin Chatwin looks freakin’ alwsome!!!!
I can’t wait to see him as Goku. He freakin’ rocks!! His hair looks soooo cool!

www.myspace.com/coreywilson10 Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 12:06 am

Im also luvin that energy ball!!!! Wow this movie is going to be so alwsome :)

I’ll be there on opening day!

Hans Van Harken Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 12:19 am

“White Man Can’t Fight”

Chimaera Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 12:32 am

I’m a HUGE DBZ fan and I’m going to be one of the fans hoping that it doesn’t majorly suck.

And why can’t he be white? Goku is a Saiyan….not asian. Also, if you didn’t get into it, it was probably b/c you saw the edited/censored crap they tried to pass off here in the U.S.

As for Justin playing Goku I wouldn’t know b/c I’ve only seen him in The Invisible and he sure as hell didn’t fight in that movie (more like got his ass handed to him by the female lead) but maybe he has something to offer…who knows?

It looks like he’s working the Spirit Bomb in that pic ’cause I never saw a Kamehameha wave start out like that before….but I could be wrong :p

XdarXideX Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 2:21 am

Yes that’s entirely correct! Those of us who don’t like Dragonball or the idea of western actors playing Japanese roles in the Dragonball movie must know NOTHING ABOUT DRAGONBALL AND THEREFORE OUR OPINIONS MUST NOT COUNT!

Dragonball is crap and you know it. Nothing but episode upon episode of “powering up” and shouting nonsense. Brilliant fun, that. I prefer anime that has a script and some variety thanks.

This movie is going to suck anyway… Asian actors or not. I bet the Akira and Ghost in the Shell movies get ruined too (mainly by western rewriting).

Chimaera Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 3:00 am

@ xdarxidex

That’s not fair. Who said that? We’re all sharing opinions here. I hope you’re not talking about me b/c I never said that DB was the best anime ever made only that I’m a fan. And that since Goku is technically an alien his ethnicity shouldn’t matter…I’m not defending the casting by any means. He just as easily could have been asian with someone asking “why the hell isn’t he Brazilian?”.

Chimaera Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 3:03 am

Also, like I mentioned earlier, I do agree with you on the western re-writing totally ruining the original delivery. That’s why I’m really “hoping” it doesn’t suck.

XdarXideX Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 3:34 am

No Chimaera it was aimed at the coreywilson myspace disaster up there. Fair enough, he’s meant to be an alien but he has a Japanese name so that’s where the connection is made. If his name was John or Bob then I would attribute that to a white man.

Chimaera Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 3:54 am

Well, I can’t argue with that :p

mase Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 6:55 am

Oh this is going to suck monkey balls! DBZ should have stayed animated or comptuter generated.

Eric Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 9:49 am

@XdarXideX

Goku is a japanese name, but how is Kakarot (spelling) which is his given name japanese? It’s meant be sounded as an alien name but could also be misinterpreted as Carrot.

thomas more Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

He’s from another planet, not Asia.

Chris Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Actually, I kinda like the way he looks in that. I mean, since it’s Dragonball and all, it’s obviously gonna be a young lookin Goku anyway…Looks better than I was thinking.

Dunno why some people are going “Why a white boy?” though. Goku doesn’t really look amazingly Asian anyway.

Brendan Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Actually, almost no anime characters look asian. I always wondered about that. None of the characters from cowboy bebop, outlaw star, ghost in the shell, pretty much anything look even remotely asian unless their background is specifically highlighted to be asian. It’s pretty strange. Same thing with companies like konami making games about american action heroes like solid snake.

Trieur Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

This shot will so drive up the boycott movements in Japan and throughout Asia. Not even Tamura or Yunfat can stop it, and so wouldn’t Stephen(he’s not actually producing in the first place anyways). At least people over there have the sense not to allow some employees to go around making up excuses for the preposterous caucasian casting.

duca Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 4:08 pm

I personally don’t care if Goku is white or not. What I care about is whether or not the person playing Goku actually practices martial arts. I mean, he’s supposed to be like, a master (even at this age). So he’s going to have a stunt double for every scene? Or can this guy actually fight? One thing is for sure that he is not a professional martial arts star (of course if I’m missing something please tell me).

Also, another problem with a mostly white cast is the potential Americanization of the movie. The series takes place in a fantasy world with talking animal people and strange technology that is for the most part quite whimsical (like most of Toriyama’s work, actually). Casting like this makes me think that it will be ‘modernised’ to appeal to a mass audience. In other words, taking place in a normal town/city with normal people/technology.

Has anyone heard what the plot is supposed to be yet? I know he’s going to fight Picollo and that it takes place at the end of the series but that’s about it. Are there any more details?

Chimaera Says:

May 11th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

@ duca

I’m wondering about the actual plot as well. Peter, any insight?

justin Says:

May 12th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

i love you beast i whane tou or hot and i whanes you sex

Sean Says:

May 12th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

The picture is awesome! Enough said about that, lol, why are people still saying a white guy can’t play Goku? That’s so fuckin racist, please, if you want to talk about that then you can take it to the IMDb boards. They’ll love you there!

Furik Says:

May 13th, 2008 at 7:44 am

Emo Goku. lulz

Trieur Says:

May 13th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

Do those who shut themselves up in the blogs under Fox’s grip going on and on about those criticizing the casting racist ever think about casting a white Goku’s in itself racist in the first place?

big daddy Says:

May 13th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

@LOTNorm

your observation of patricks comments was fucking hilarious.

i very mildy liked DBZ, it was on cartoon network in my teen years, american version. it was pretty ok. the thing i didnt like was how no matter who goku killed, a new enemy that was a bajillion times stronger would appear, and each time some mega super huge fire fuck ball would be summoned to kill the bad guy, and it never worked the first time. it always followed that same formula. and goku always got a bergillion times stronger, but it was never enough for the next bad guy.. with that said. i dont buy the white kid as goku, not cuz he’s white but because he doesnt look the part, maybe he could be gotenks or whatever his son was named. if this movie doesnt totally suck, i would love to see it, but i dont have a lot of faith

yzrael Says:

May 14th, 2008 at 4:58 am

i really have a bad feeling about this…it might end up like a cheap comedy film

uzdbv Says:

May 17th, 2008 at 4:16 am

You all suck!You’re so stupid!Goku couldn’t be asian,he comes from space,idiots!

Kris Says:

May 17th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Justin Chatwin!?Gets some Asians in there, its based on an anime and manga - or at least some famous white guys -.-’ get like Chuck Norris to be Goku. I hope this movie doesnt suck, I used to love this show… It probably will }:/

T26666 Says:

May 19th, 2008 at 4:52 am

I am a big fan of DBZ and I hope not but this movie may bite the big one just because it will never compare to the anime that it will be based on.
Not naming names but some of the characters dont seem to fit the bill or even remotely resemble characters. Hopefully their acting talents will make up for that.
Maybe they can salvage it by renaming the movie, the characters and saying it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with anything in the Dragonball World.
PS From the looks of it I may know more martial arts than most of the people pictured on that poster.

dragon kid Says:

June 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am

I hope the directors of the Matrix and Transformers step in to help direct this movie… if not I’m gonna make my own film

Eva Says:

June 22nd, 2008 at 7:58 am

@ partick
justin catwin dosnt look like goku ,
look at his hair , goku’s hair is black and not brown .
goku’s hair is long , and not like that short ,
goku’s eyes are black and not blue ,
goku’s almost always wharing a orange pants and a dark blue t-shirt , with an orange shirt over the blue one .
goku got mussles and that dork justin chatwin?????
theye dont even look like it , its just a movie with the names of dragonball / dragonball z but do they look like it goku or bulma ????
NOOOOOO .
do you realy think that if toriyama - san realy wandit to make a live movie that it would be like that ????
come on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

youre childhood is safe .
that movie is bullcrap realy

Kevin Says:

June 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Though a Dragonball fan, I have to agree that Dragonball Z had far too many seemingly endless fight scenes (though the fight scenes were really just staging for exposition, but I digress) and that’s a significant reason why so many people were turned off by Dragonball Z. If the fights didn’t last multiple episodes each, the show wouldn’t have become so tedious to watch.

In a 90-120 minute movie, however, there’ll probably be one long fight near the end, which is no different than any other action movie, and 20-30 minuts of live action martial arts (if well choreographed) is going to be much more interesting to watch than 4-8 full episodes of “powering up”.

Dragonball, on the other hand, was nothing like Dragonball Z. It was original and humorous and the story revolved around an adventure rather than fighting, and except in rare cases like the world martial arts tournament episodes, fights were over quickly.

Unfotunately, I don’t think Dragonball, though I love it dearly, would translate well into live action as well as Dragonball Z would. Either way, I’m reserving judgement until the movie actually comes out.

Kevin Says:

June 22nd, 2008 at 2:35 pm

Is this a Dragonball movie, a Dragonball Z movie, or somewhere in between? (lets all pretend Dragonball GT never exsisted except the first and last episodes)

I had always hoped it would get released as a series of three movies that started with the first quest for the dragon balls with young Goku, then a world martial arts tournament with teen Goku, then a condensed Vegita/Freeza story that takes us to super Saiyan Goku.

If those went well, maybe a condenced Anroid/Cell Sagas movie and a Bobity movie (leave Buu unawakened) so we can have that final Vegeta/Goku showdown.

What the heck, if you throw out everything from GT except the final Black Ball dragon part, with the balls gone forever and Goku “dead”, you’ve finished the whole Dragonball storyline.

…well, let’s see what happens with this movie first. Someone else can always get the rights and do their take on it, as what happened with Batman for example.

DANG Says:

June 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

WHY IS GOKU A WHITE BOY
HES FCKING ASIAN!
STUPID PIECE OF SHIT, BETTER NOT KILL DRAGONBALL

theROCTEE Says:

June 29th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

I too was a fan of the DB/DBZ series in my younger days, despite the minimalistic storyline and exaggerated fight scenes. I won’t make any predictions concerning the movie’s success. I’ll definitely give it a chance though.

The cast doesn’t seem too bad. However, I do agree that an Asian actor that not only bears a closer resemblance to Goku, (eg hair and eye colour) but is capable of martial arts, should have been chosen. Yes, I do realise that technically, Goku’s ethnicity is not asian but I feel that the animation/manga/anime portrayed him in a manner that suggested an asian-esque appearance, minus the monkey tail lol. If one considers that in the animation, Chi-Chi (with her large cartoon-ish eyes and all) was meant to be asian, you might find that the couple (Goku and Chi-Chi) resemble the same ethnicity. I mean seriously, that ever SPIKY, STRAIGHT, SLEEK and BLACK hair-do that Goku maintains no matter how rough a fight gets? hint hint much Japanese yes? lol. Conversely, in his super saiyan form, Goku goes blonde with blue eyes and I have to admit that Chatwin fits that role nicely. And I guess that apart from appearance, one’s acting-ability should be considered too (perhaps more importantly). For all I care, 50 cent could have played Goku if he did the role justice lol (yeah right, who am i kidding lol).

Good luck to the cast and I hope that, for the sake of DB/DBZ fandom worldwide, the movie is a success!

theROCTEE Says:

June 29th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Oh and also, isn’t Goku’s character based on the Monkey King from the chinese story, “Journey to the West”?

Trieur Says:

July 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm

That’s right theROCTEE, that’s why getting a white guy to play Goku just took this movie’s life by getting everyone (at least in Asia) boycotting it

lisa age 16 Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

lisa age 16 Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 6:10 pm

sorry yh im a hard dragonball z fan who is not white or asian but i always imagine that if there was going to be a dragonball live action or wateva i always imagine him being japanese or at least aisan because……. he is!! And before ANYONE OF U HU says “BUT HE IS AN ALIEN” must think agen because yes he is from another planet but hello he has asian features IF U CAN’T SEE WAT IM SEEING then i fink u got the wrong show because a pale skin man wiv black hair and martial art suit is defo asian( japanese etc) But the film is a go ahead so theres is nothing that we can do is there? i dont think i i would go and see the movie…..soz but i hope it flops.
Making Justin Chatwin as Goku is like making Denzel Washington as BATMAN!!! see wat im saying!
PLEASE DONT RUIN THE ANIME SERIES!!! - oh it to late to say now just hope……….

josh Says:

July 17th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

dragonball movie willl be shit i love the show but they should make it violent and dark and for adults not really for kids and leve the gags out of it

josh Says:

July 17th, 2008 at 6:49 pm

otherwise its going to be as shit as fantasic four an those crappy movies it better be good and not fuck up a classic show

balsack Says:

July 20th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

A caucasian who learns a little martial arts and can somehow kick everyone’s ass all of a sudden. Theres probably gonna be a stunt double, and right now the character looks awful. He looks like just bathed in hairgel. Whoever said goku could have been white is retarded because he is clearly asian in the anime. Black hair, darkish skin, just like chi chis. It’s gonna be totally americanized, once again, like the forbidden kingdom.

balsack Says:

July 20th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

the character goku is based off journey to the west, a chinese folktale, so clearly he is suppose to be somewhat asian. If Toriyama retold the story, there would be no point, so he said that goku came from space. And to all those people who said that dragonball sucked, think about it. Dragonball came out in like 1984 so wtf of course the plots are gonna be somewhat crappy.

This Chikk Says:

August 18th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

Oh these haterz are Sooo Dramatic!!! I can’t believe iit lol.. iits a movie …MOVIE not cartoon, therefore, the cast should look HUMAN lol. If they made them exactly like the characters do in the anime the cast would look ridiculous.

I think justin looks ok and HOT playing Goku…doesn’t matter if he’s asian or not. Race does NOT matter.

Trieur Says:

August 21st, 2008 at 5:57 pm

I can see that “This Chikk” is simply on the heat and after Chatwin

FireG Says:

August 23rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Goku was certainly supposed to look Asian because although he was an alien, he was able to homogenized with the rest of the Asian population in the toons. And don’t fucking tell me that they could be possibly white because they’re all pretty much Chinese-centric….dumb ass motherfuckers.

FireG Says:

August 23rd, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Goku was certainly supposed to look Asian because although he was an alien, he was able to homogenized with the rest of the Asian population in the toons. And don’t f****g tell me that they could be possibly white because they’re all pretty much Chinese-centric….dumb a** motherf*****s.

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First Look: Justin Chatwin as Goku in Dragonball