Claim: Emmy Rossum was in an adaptation of a comic.

Dragonball Evolution is a 2009 American action-adventure fantasy film directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow , Tim van Rellim and written by Ben Ramsey .   The film is loosely based on the Japanese Dragon Ball manga created by Akira Toriyama , and stars Justin Chatwin , Emmy Rossum , James Marsters , Jamie Chung , Chow Yun-fat , Joon Park , and Eriko Tamura . In Dragonball Evolution , the young Goku reveals his past and sets out to fight the evil alien warlord Lord Piccolo who wishes to gain the powerful Dragon Balls and use them to take over Earth . The film began development in 2002 , and was distributed by 20th Century Fox . It is the first official live-action adaptation of the Dragon Ball manga .   Dragonball Evolution was released in Japan and several other Asian countries on March 13 , 2009 , and in the United States on April 10 , 2009 . The film received negative reviews by critics and fans and was a box office disappointment , grossing $ 57.5 million of its production budget of $ 30 million .