There has been a slew of live-action anime adaptations in Hollywood recently, with Death Note coming to Netflix this year and Ghost In The Shell bombing in the box-office. Many anime fans have been unimpressed with the recent films, and Western live-action anime adaptations have been generally written off as a negative thing. But a Chinese distribution company, Toei Animation, looks to break that stereotype with a new live-action adaptation of Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya.

The film is set to be directed by Polish Academy Award Nominated director, Tomasz Baginski. The film will be co-produce by Toei Animation and A Really Good Film Company (ARGF). Toei Animation's Yoshiyuki Ikezawa will serve as producer for the live-action adaptation, and Kozo Morishita will be the executive producer.

If you are unfamiliar with the story behind Saint Seiya Crunchyroll describes the show below: It is said that any time evil begins to thrive in the world, Saints, the upholders of justice, will appear. Now is such a time. Thirteen years before our tale begins, Mitsumasa Kido, came across Airos, the gold saint of Sagittarius, gasping his last breaths and muttering warnings of sinister forces that threaten the stability of the world. Fulfilling the dying saint's wish, Mitsumasa swore to protect the life of a special baby that Airos had saved from assassination and agreed to safeguard the magical gold armor of Sagittarius until the time was right for someone pure of heart to wear it.

Saint Seiya is a classic franchise that first was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1986. The series was released as anime for the first time 1986 and ran untill 1989. It was then edited, dubbed, and re-released in 2003. The anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll, and Viz Media has published the original manga in English as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.

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