List of Dragon Ball films
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. Since 1986, there have been 24 theatrical films based on the franchise, including 21 anime films produced by Toei Animation, one official live-action film, and two unofficial films.
Background
Original run (1986–1996)
During the franchise's original broadcast run, Toei produced Dragon Ball films rapidly, in some cases twice per year, to match the Japanese spring and summer vacations. Seventeen films were produced during this period—three Dragon Ball films from 1986 to 1989, thirteen Dragon Ball Z films from 1989 to 1996, and finally a tenth anniversary film that was released in 1996, and adapted the Red Ribbon arc of the original series. These films have a running time below feature length except for the 1996 film, at 80 minutes. These films were mostly alternate retellings of certain story arcs involving new characters or extra side-stories that do not correlate with the same continuity as the manga or TV series.These were generally screened back to back with other Toei films for that season as special theatrical events in Japan. The first through fifth films were shown at the, while the sixth through seventeenth films were shown at the. By 1996, the first sixteen anime films up until Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon had sold 50million tickets and grossed over at the Japanese box office, making it the highest-grossing anime film series up until then, in addition to selling over 500,000 home video units in Japan.
While the majority of these films were only screened in Japan, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler and Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn were both screened in the United States in 2006 to promote Fusion Reborn's dubbed DVD release that year.
Live-action film (2009)
A single live-action adaptation of the series, Dragonball Evolution, was released in 2009. The film only vaguely adapted elements from the franchise and made worldwide against a production cost of. It received a 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 3.5/10, amid criticism for its plot elements, acting performances, and whitewashing.Sequels to Evolution were planned. James Marsters, who played King Piccolo, said that he had signed on for three films and expressed interest in making as many as seven in a 2009 interview with IGN. However, due to the critical and commercial failure of Evolution, no sequels were ever produced. The rights to any further live-action films are currently owned by the Walt Disney Company after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Evolution remains the only licensed live-action film in the franchise, though two unlicensed films were released in the early 1990s.
Animated revival (2013–present)
The franchise returned with Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, the first animated film since 1996, and the first produced with the involvement of Akira Toriyama. The film—a sequel to the original series—became the franchise's most successful at the time and was received well by critics, earning an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Unlike the classic event circuit films, those from 2013 onwards were developed with an international theatrical release planned from the beginning by 20th Century Studios. Battle of Gods was followed by Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' in 2015. The second film introduced Jaco to Dragon Ball, a character who had debuted in Toriyama's spin-off manga Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in 2013. These two movies were adapted by the Dragon Ball Super TV series, with the plotlines from the two films forming multi-episode arcs early in the show's broadcast.Later movies would adopt the Super moniker, beginning with Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which grossed more than worldwide. As of May 2023, the film is the 20th highest-grossing anime film of all time. Resurrection 'F' and Broly hold approval ratings of 83% and 82%, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes. A second Super film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, was released in 2022, earning over worldwide. The film is the most critically successful in the franchise to date, earning a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.