Neon Genesis Evangelion (live-action movie)

Development of a live action movie version of Neon Genesis Evangelion was announced in May 2003 by the Houston-based anime distributor ADV Films, who hold world-wide rights to the series outside of Asia and Australia. The film will be made by ADV, Gainax and Weta Workshop Ltd.. Its release is currently projected to occur at any time ranging from as early as 2008 to as late as 2015; in March 2005, Matt Greenfield was reported to have indicated that the movie would be finished in "at least a year, most likely 3 or 4."[1] Hideaki Anno, the director of Evangelion, will not be directing this live-action movie, though at the beginning it was suggested that he would have some sort of supervisory role.

As of August 2005, production of the movie is on hold as a director has yet to become available. In December 2005, Fortune Magazine reported in an article about ADV Films, that ADV has raised "about half of the $100 million to $120 million" needed to produce the Neon Genesis Evangelion live-action movie.[2] It's not completely clear if this money was raised by ADV alone, or portions of that amount was contributed by Gainax.

ADV stated that fans could expect a major announcement concerning the film to be made sometime in the Autumn of 2006. As of March 2008, there has been no such announcement. Although ADV have recently said the film is "still on" and "big names" are attached, no information can be announced at this time, and the project is considered to be in "development hell."