S.S. Rajamouli is in talks with Japanese studios for an anime adaptation of his critically-acclaimed film RRR, as per reports.
During an interview with gaming and entertainment news portal Polygon, the 52-year-old filmmaker said, “We have been in talks with a few studios in Japan to make RRR in anime.”
“So I'm waiting for things to get through. Hopefully it happens, and hopefully we can announce a cool continuation of RRR anime,” he added.
Rajamouli became a fan of anime after watching a few popular franchises like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan. He is also a fan of the Netflix animated series Arcane.
“I was introduced to anime very recently,” he said, adding, “and what I have seen has blown me away. Why did I miss out on these things for so long?”
“It opened up new avenues for me to understand how stories can be told in a more attacking and impressive manner,” Rajamouli said. “How you stun the audience with unexpected moments and with a lot of emotion added to that. It's not just a surprise, it's very emotionally driven, compelling movements, which are also surprises.”
In 2024, Rajamouli met with anime director Kazuto Nakazawa and visual effects specialist Rui Kuroki for a discussion on the creative processes behind the making of Japanese animation during his stay in Japan for a special screening of RRR.
Nakazawa, best known by his pseudonym Takeshi Tsuji, has directed and designed characters for popular anime series like B: The Beginning and Fena: Pirate Princess. His other works include Parasite Dolls, the anime sequence in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1 and the fifteen-minute-long Moondrive segment in Genius Party Beyond.
Kuroki, on the other hand, is known for collaborating with Nakazawa on the hand-drawn anime sequence in Kill Bill, which unfolds the backstory of the vengeful O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu). Besides, the artist has served as a producer for the anime film Psycho-Pass: The Movie and the action series Reideen.
However, the RRR anime has not been announced officially yet. In the meantime, Rajamouli has an animated version of his two-part Baahubali in the pipeline. The first part of the animated spinoff will release in 2027. His next feature film, Varanasi, is set to hit theatres worldwide on April 7, 2027.