"Naruto" fans will be seeing Masashi Kishimoto's beloved manga on the big screen soon.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Lionsgate will be behind the live-action adaptation of one of the most popular mangas of all time, with Destin Daniel Cretton of Marvel Studios' "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" as its writer and director.

Kishimoto reportedly gave his blessing to Cretton after the filmmaker visited Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese manga artist reportedly said through a statement that he heard of the latter after watching one of his blockbuster films and thought that he "would be the perfect director for 'Naruto.'"

"After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for 'Naruto,'" Kishimoto said.

He continued, "In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process."

Lionsgate has been developing the live-action film adaptation of Kishimoto's popular manga since late 2015, per THR.

With Cretton officially on board and with Kishimoto's blessing, the anticipation of fans for "Naruto's" big screen debut increased.

"'Naruto' live action can go on to be one of the best movies ever made," tweeted one netizen on X in response to the latest update.

"Ahh, yes! This could have the potential of being decent. Getting the approval of the original creator is step one," someone else commented.

"Kishimoto is involved, and the director is listening to his input -- the man who created the original source material? OK, green flash here!" opined a different person.

However, other netizens and "Naruto" fans expressed concern about the project.

"Not everything needs to be a live-action," said one of them.

A different fan wrote, "As much as I would love to see it, I don't think it needs one."

"I guess we pray, wait and see! I hope they don't mess it up," stated another netizen.

"Naruto" is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kishimoto in 1999.

It follows the story of a young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki and his chase for his dream to become the greatest ninja -- a Hokage.

It was serialized in Japan's weekly shōnen manga anthology -- Weekly Shōnen Jump -- from 1999 to 2014. 

Meanwhile, its animé series adaptation premiered in Japan on Oct. 3, 2002, and concluded on Feb. 8, 2007, after 220 episodes.

Tags: Naruto Naruto Live-Action