Fullmetal Alchemist fans haven’t wanted for options when it comes to following the adventures of the Elric brothers. In addition to the original manga by Hiromu Arakawa, there have been two anime TV series, two feature-length anime movies, six spin-off novels, two audio dramas and numerous video games.
Come this winter, there’ll be one more way to keep up with the Elrics. Warner Bros. Japan will release the first ever Fullmetal Alchemist live action movie on December 1, 2017. Judging from the latest trailer, fans can look forward to seeing some of the characters they love (or love to hate).
The first two trailers for the new movie lay out the premise of the Fullmetal Alchemist story, with brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric losing their body parts (all of them, in Al’s case) in a failed attempt to resurrect their dead mother. Trailer number three, which came out on July 12, features the evil Homonculi Lust (who gets to show off those wicked fingers of hers), Envy and Gluttony.
Other characters that appear in the trailer include the Elrics’ childhood pal, artisan Winry Rockbell. And before you ask: Yes, she chews Ed out for screwing up his automail.
Since it first came out as a manga in 2001 and an anime TV series in 2003, the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime has been hugely popular in both Japan and the United States. The series, which showed brothers Ed and Al battling Scar, the Homunculi and other villains as they tried to find the Philosopher’s Stone, ran for 51 episodes and concluded with the 2005 anime movie Conqueror of Shamballa.
A second anime TV series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, was released in Japan back in 2009. Unlike the first series, which deviated from the manga at Hiromu Arakawa’s insistence, Brotherhood was a direct adaptation.
Director Fumihiko Sori—who also directed the live action Ping Pong movie—has reportedly said that he wanted to create a style for the film “that follows the original manga as much as possible.” Judging from this most recent trailer, it looks like he did a decent job!
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