Live-Action Fullmetal Alchemist Film's On-Set Photos Show Yamada in Costume as Ed

Film is shooting on location in Volterra, Italy

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Italian newspaper La Nazione posted three photographs from the set of the live-actionfilm of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga on Tuesday. The stills show the film's shooting in the Italian town of Volterra, and show lead actor Ryōsuke Yamada in costume as his character Edward Elric.

Filming began in Italy in early June, and will wrap up in Japan in the second half of August. The film will open in Japan in winter 2017.

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Fumihiko Sori (live-action Ping Pong) is directing the film. On adapting the source material, Sori said, "I want to create a style that follows the original manga as much as possible. The cast is entirely Japanese, but the cultural background is Europe. However, it's a style that doesn't represent a specific race or country." Regarding the faithfulness of the adaptation, which has characters of non-Japanese ethnicity, the director said, "There will never be a scene in which a character says something that would identify him/her as Japanese."

The film stars Ryōsuke Yamada (Hey! Say! JUMP member and live-action Assassination Classroom's Nagisa) as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda (live-actionBlue Spring Ride's Futaba) (pictured top right in image to the right) as Winry Rockbell, and Dean Fujioka (live-action Happy Marriage!?) (pictured bottom left in image to the right) as Roy Mustang. Other cast members include:

• Fumiyo Kohinata as General Hakuro
• Ryuta Sato as Maes Hughes
• Misako Renbutsu as Riza Hawkeye
• Natsuna as Maria Ross
• Natsuki Harada as Gracia Hughes
• Yo Oizumi as Shou Tucker
• Jun Kunimura as Doctor Marco
• Yasuko Matsuyuki as Lust
• Kanata Hongou as Envy
• Shinji Uchiyama as Gluttony
• Kenjiro Ishimaru as Father Cornello

The film tells the story in one complete film. Ed is being aged up to 20 years old; he was originally 15 in the manga.

Sori told Oricon he has a deep affection for the story that tells the "truth of living," and said, "It is my dearest wish to turn this wonderful story into a film, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I am living for this reason." He added that he "wants to create a wonderful film that uses techniques that challenge Hollywood," and noted that nowadays Japanese filmmaking techniques have progressed greatly.

Arakawa published the manga from 2001 to 2010 inSquare Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan, and Viz Mediareleased the series in North America and describes the story:

In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother's bodies...the legendary Philosopher's Stone.

The series inspired the Fullmetal Alchemist television anime series in 2003 and its sequel film, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa, in 2005.Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a second television anime series based more closely on the original manga's story, debuted in 2009. A spinoff anime film, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, premiered in 2011.