Well-known Hollywood director Marc Webb is set to direct the Hollywood adaptation of the hit anime film Your Name, entertainment news website Deadline reports. Besides directing Sony’s Amazing Spider Man, Webb also directed 2009 romance movie 500 Days of Summer. The script will be written by Eric Heisserer, who also penned hit Netflix movie Birdbox.

Your Name’s original film producer Genki Kawamura has shared that Webb was their first choice to direct the film’s Hollywood version. He said, “We are confident that director Marc Webb, who is an expert of love stories such as his 500 days of Summer, will bring this film to higher level with a new approach.” Your Name’s creator himself Makoto Shinkai has also shared his happiness with the news of Webb coming onboard as director of the Americanized version.

In an earlier interview, Heisserer shared that Your Name’s Japanese producers expressly requested for a Westernized take on the hit anime film. According to him, “They (Japanese producers) stated if they wanted a Japanese live-action version, they would just do it themselves. But they want to see it through the lens of a western viewpoint.” This Westernized take on Your Name can now be seen in the film’s official description, as released by Deadline:

“A young Native American woman living in a rural area and a young man from Chicago discover they are magically and intermittently swapping bodies. When a disaster threatens to upend their lives, they must journey to meet and save their worlds.”

Paramount Pictures & J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions are producing the film.

Source: Anime News Network, Crunchyroll