Dragonball Evolution star knew it would bomb after unlucky Fast & Furious experience

To call Dragonball Evolution a disaster would be an understatement, and James Marsters has revealed that Fast and Furious actually made it clear just how much of a bomb they’d made.

Coming up to Dragon Ball Daima, it’s important to remember the low points in Goku’s career defeating existential threats to Earth and the known universe. Dragon Ball has given us a few of the best anime ever, and some real catastrophes, too.

None rival when Hollywood wanted some of the Z Fighters’s success, making a live-action film that’s become notorious for how bad an adaptation can be. James Marsters portrayed Piccolo, the action movie’s villain, and he remembers opening night very well.

“[My son], my daughter and I were all going out to see the film together on opening night,” he said on Inside of You with Michel Rosenbaum. “It’s packed, and it’s all teenage boys and their younger brothers, and it smells like body odor and hot dogs, and it’s wonderful, like ‘It’s a hit, it’s a hit’.”

Sadly, the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer star spoke too soon. “This voice goes off inside me, and I think, ‘This is too good to be true’, and I turn to the kid next to me and I ask, ‘Is this Dragonball Evolution?'” Marsters recalled.

“He goes, ‘No, man, this is Fast and Furious, Jesus, Dragon Ball…’. So I get up, and I’m just thinking ‘Oh please let there be quarter of the house in the correct theater.

“I’m in a three-picture deal, and I’ve got big plans for the rest of the movies. We get in, and there were five people including the three of us.”

Oh dear. Dragonball Evolution went on to make just over $56 million globally, falling way short of expectations and halting any further plans. Justin Chatwin played Goku in the picture, with James Wong directing, and it’s a bum note in everyone’s career.

Marsters mentions that he was embarrassed, since his kids were there, though his son, who was a big fan, liked the feature, giving some relief. Nowadays, he errs people away from looking it up. “If people haven’t seen it, I hope it stays that way,” he finishes.

Since then, we’ve gotten Dragon Ball Super, several anime movies in the franchise, and now we have Daima coming up. You can peruse our upcoming anime guide for other favorites, no live-action versions included.