Entertainment news website Variety reported on Tuesday that Sony is developing a live-action Hollywood film adaptation of ONE and Yūsuke Murata's One-Punch Man manga. Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner (Venom, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle films) are writing the script. Arad Productions' Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing the film. Variety stated that "Sony is very high on the property given its popularity" and there is a "possibility of adding another franchise to the pipeline."

Yūsuke Murata and ONE launched the One-Punch Man manga on Shueisha's free "Tonari no Young Jump" website in 2012. The series is a remake of ONE's original web manga of the same name. Viz Media is releasing the series digitally in its Weekly Shonen Jump manga anthology, and is also releasing the series in print. Viz Media describes the story of the manga's first volume: The manga inspired a television anime, and the first season aired in Japan from October to December 2015. Viz Media and Daisuki both streamed the series outside of Japan as it aired. The anime premiered with an English dub on Adult Swim's Toonami block in July 2016. Viz Media released the first season on home video in North America.

The new season began with a television special in April 2019, then the first episode premiered one week later. Viz Media acquired the master license to the second anime season, including digital streaming, TV broadcast, electronic sell-through, home media, and merchandising rights for North America, Latin America, and Oceania. The company streamed the show as a Hulu exclusive. Crunchyroll streamed the series in Europe, excluding French- and German-speaking Europe, and in the Middle East and North Africa.

After exiting Fast X, it didn’t take Justin Lin very long to rev up another franchise. He’s set to direct One Punch Man for Sony Pictures. Scott Rosenberg & Jeff Pinkner, who teamed on Jumanji: The Next Level, and Venom, are set to write the live-action film adaptation of worldwide hit manga series. Sony Pictures acquired the film rights from Shueisha.

Avi Arad and Ari Arad of Arad Productions (Spider-Man film series, Iron Man, X-Men film series, Venom) are producing the film. Lin will also be a producer and will work with the scribes on a rewrite with the intention to begin production by year’s end.

Hugely popular in both Japan and around the world, One Punch Man follows the story of Saitama, a superhero who can defeat any opponent with a single punch but seeks to find a worthy opponent after growing bored by a lack of challenges in his fight against evil. Think of Mike Tyson as a superhero in feudal Japan. The studio is bullish on the concept as a franchise starter.

Michael Buckner/Deadline; Viz Media

Created in 2009 by Japanese artist ONE as a webcomic, One Punch Man quickly went viral. In 2012, it was then published on Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump Next with illustrations by Yusuke Murata along with ONE. The series became huge with worldwide sales totaling over 30 million copies. When the English edition published by VIZ Media debuted in the U.S. in 2015, the first and second volumes made the New York Times Manga Bestsellers list and was nominated for an Eisner and a Harvey Award. Since then, the popularity of One Punch Man has led to a critically acclaimed TV anime series, as well as most recently the launch of a video and mobile game.

Lin was planning to wrap up The Fast and Furious series, and had begun production on Fast X when he dropped out of the project over creative differences that had to do with star Vin Diesel’s system of script rewrites. Louis Leterrier stepped in and is helming that film. Lin had started with the franchise on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Fast X would have been his sixth film in the billion dollar series. Now, Lin will be on the ground floor to create a new franchise.

Lin is repped by CAA and attorney Warren Dern. WME and attorney Robert Offer rep Rosenberg and WME reps Pinkner.