Kakashi casting: live-action 'Naruto' movie reportedly eyes Charles Melton
Charles Melton is reportedly in talks to join the live-action Naruto movie — but which character is on the table?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Charles Melton is in final negotiations to suit up as Kakashi Hatake in Lionsgate ’s live-action Naruto movie. If the deal closes, he’d be the first actor officially aboard while the search continues for the title role and the rest of Team 7’s teenage leads.
The film is in pre-production with Destin Daniel Cretton directing and working closely with manga creator Masashi Kishimoto. The plan, per the report, is to start at the beginning of Naruto’s story rather than jump ahead to the Shippuden era, and the casting hunt is global to find the right young ninjas for Team 7.
Melton broke out on Riverdale as Reggie Mantle and drew raves for Todd Haynes’ May December opposite Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. The report also notes he’s a lifelong manga/anime fan with real fight skills: he holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and competed in the Junior Olympics in Seoul.
He had reportedly been eyed for Beast in Marvel ’s X-Men at one point, but with that ensemble now set after D23, Kakashi looks like the franchise role taking shape for him instead.
Who’s making it
Cretton, who recently steered Spider- Man: Brand New Day and previously directed Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is producing through his Hisako banner alongside Jeyun Munford. The project is at Lionsgate with Arad Productions on board. Producers include:
- Jeremy Latcham
- Avi Arad
- Ari Arad
- Emmy Yu
What it adapts
Based on Kishimoto’s best-selling manga, Naruto follows a brash young ninja aiming to lead his village while carrying the nine-tailed fox sealed inside him. The manga ran from 1999 to 2014 in Weekly Shonen Jump and spawned long-running anime series that aired for years in the U.S. on Cartoon Network and Disney XD.
Production is expected to begin in February 2027.