Dragonball Live-Action Film to Release on April 8th, 2009

IGN has confirmed that the long-awaited American live-action adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball story will be moved up from the April 10th release date confirmed last month to the Wednesday before the Easter holiday to allow for competitive advantage before the release of films from Disney and Paramount for that weekend.

The film was originally scheduled for release last August 15th, but the studio decided to reshoot and ramp up post production work after a leaked teaser trailer appeared, which upset many fans and had the effect of alienating casual viewers.

The movie is based around the story of Goku and his quest for the six remaining dragon balls (he possesses one) to fulfill his dying grandfather’s wish to keep them out of the hands of the villain Piccolo. Piccolo wishes to use the dragon balls to take over the world.