Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds) and James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) have been cast in the lead roles for 20th Century Fox's upcoming movie based on the manga and cartoon series Dragon Ball created by Akira Toriyama.
Chatwin will play Goku, a warrior who protects the earth from assorted villainous types who want to take over the universe and harness the power of the titular mystically powered orbs.
Marsters takes the role of Piccolo, who, despite sharing a name with a tooty little whistle, is actually the villain of the piece.
We're far from Dragonball experts, but visually both are good choices. With a little hair gel Chatwin could easily do the wide-eyed, spike-headed Goku justice. And the man forever to be known as Spike possesses one the key element of Piccolo's appearance: scary cheekbones. He is, however, not green and lacks pointy ears.
The film will shoot later this month with Final Destination's James Wong behind the camera and Kung Fu Hustle's Stephen Chow producing. Let's hope that Chow brings some of the brilliantly bonkers action elements that he's given his own films. Lord knows this sounds mental enough to handle it.