Blue Lock Live-Action Film Reveals First Visuals, Premiering Summer 2026
The live-action film adaptation of the popular manga Blue Lock has finally unveiled its first official visuals via the project's official X account, marking a tangible step towards its scheduled release in the summer of 2026.
The new visual features a strong illustrative style with a focus on the characters’ eyes—conveying the intensity and ego at the heart of the story—and is accompanied by a short tagline: “Ego Assembles.”
Big Ambitions Behind the Scenes
This live-action production is handled by studio CREDEUS, previously known for live-action adaptations such as Kingdom, Golden Kamuy, and Kokuhou. According to Shinzo Matsuhashi, CEO of CREDEUS, the project’s appeal lies in the raw energy of the original manga and an original narrative rich in Japanese nuances. Matsuhashi explained that the full development of the film began in 2022 and involved a series of intense discussions during the scriptwriting process—including close collaboration with the original creators, Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura.
In related interviews, Matsuhashi emphasized that the production approach will focus on realism in depicting the characters’ “ego.” The large-scale casting process attracted over 1,000 applicants; selection criteria assessed not only football experience, appearance, and acting ability but also the actor’s personality fit with the character’s persona. As of now, the official cast has not been announced.
Intense Training — From Technical Drills to Character Transformation
To ensure the actors could deliver a physical and mental reproduction of the manga characters, Matsuhashi revealed that the cast began an intensive training process about a year and a half before filming. The training was guided by professional football players and designed to hone technical skills while fostering a competitive mindset—transforming them into ego-driven figures, in line with the main theme of Blue Lock.
CREDEUS, according to Matsuhashi, is pursuing a unique form of expression that only the live-action medium can provide, while still striving to honor the legacy of the original series. The goal is to deliver an experience that feels fresh yet faithful to what the manga and previous adaptations have built.
About Blue Lock
Blue Lock is a football manga series serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine. The story centers on Yoichi Isagi, a high school forward who becomes involved in an experimental project called “Blue Lock”—a program launched by the Japan Football Association to create a world-class striker. In this project, 300 high school forwards from across Japan are gathered to compete in a series of elimination trials; only the strongest will survive.
The franchise has achieved over 50 million copies in circulation. The anime adaptation aired its first season from October 2022 to March 2023, followed by a second season in October–December 2024. In addition to anime, Blue Lock has expanded into games (2022) and stage adaptations (2023), and is now preparing to add to its portfolio with a live-action film targeted for a summer 2026 release.
