Fullmetal Alchemist (film)

Fullmetal Alchemist is a live action adaptation film based on the manga series of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa and produced by Warner Brothers Pictures Japan. The film is directed by Fumihiko Sori, and features an all-star cast including Ryosuke Yamada (Edward Elric), Tsubasa Honda (Winry Rockbell), Dean Fujioka (Roy Mustang), and Yasuko Matsuyuki (Lust).

Fullmetal Alchemist premiered worldwide as the Opening Film of the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 25 of 2017, the exclusive US Premiere was on November 19 as the Closing Film of the inaugural Anime NYC convention and it opened in Japanese theaters on December 1 of the same year. The Japanese singer MISIA performs the film’s theme. On January 23rd Netflix announced that the film would be a part of their February roll out.

Synopsis
In beginning of the 20th century, in a reality where alchemy is real, extremely developed and respected. The plot features brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who, after attempting the forbidden technique of human transmutation, suffer the consequences. Alphonse loses his entire body while Edward loses his left leg. Edward then sacrifices his right arm to save his brother's soul by attaching it to a metal suit of armor. Edward is then given mechanical prosthesis known as "automail" in place of his missing arm and leg. Upon acceptance into the State Alchemists, he is given the nickname "Fullmetal Alchemist", all while searching with Alphonse for the legendary philosopher's stone, that will repair their bodies.

Differences from the original story

 * The Promised Day plan is not involved to story at all (excluding Lust's comments about sacrifices), the film instead focusing on General Hakuro's plan to take over the country using mannequin soldiers.
 * The Transmutation Circle used for human transmutation has a different design.
 * An alternate series of events plays during the Elric’s visit to Reole:
 * Edward chases and battles Cornello through the streets instead of inside the Church of Leto.
 * Cornello’s fraudulence is exposed to the townspeople through publicly trying to take a civilian woman hostage instead of accidentally broadcasting his plans on the radio.
 * Cornello’s stone is not destroyed from over-usage and his arm does not become disfigured. Instead, the stone is knocked off of Cornello’s ring from fighting with Edward, and Mustang subsequently burns the fake stone.
 * Mustang personally arrives in Reole to take care of the situation.
 * Winry plays a much larger role than in the manga/anime, serving as a permanent traveling companion who accompanies the brothers at Laboratory 5 and Reole, among other places.
 * Mustang states that the Philosopher's Stone is indestructible and therefore a fake can be distinguished by its ability to be destroyed. There is no such statement in the manga or either anime series, and the destruction of multiple stones does in fact occur, with Envy destroying his own and Pride destroying Gluttony’s.
 * Edward and Alphonse appear to have gone to Reole on their own and Mustang advises against Edward searching for the stone. However, in the original story, Mustang is the one who sends the Elrics to Reole in the first place to help with their search for the stone.
 * The Ouroboros tattoo on the Homunculi are colored black instead of red.
 * A number of events occur earlier than in the original story:
 * Gluttony revealing his ”false gate” form
 * Lust mentions the plan of the promised day by stating Edward would make a fine sacrifice
 * Mustang learning that Envy killed Maes Hughes
 * The appearance of the army of lesser Homunculi
 * Alphonse learning to transmute without the use of a circle
 * Shou Tucker performs experiments on Alphonse to further his understanding of the Philosopher’s Stone. In the original story, Tucker is solely concentrated on his upcoming annual review and does not appear to have any side projects.
 * Instead of Barry the Chopper, Tucker is the person to suggest to Alphonse that he may be artificially created by Edward.
 * Edward separates from Alphonse and leaves him with Tucker in order to meet Dr. Marcoh.
 * Lust kills Dr. Marcoh.
 * General Hakuro gives Edward a false lead towards where Laboratory 5 might be. It is there where Alphonse confronts Edward about having false memories, instead of in a hospital later on.
 * Envy initially disguises himself as Mustang, not Maria Ross, when killing Hughes. As a result, Mustang is framed for Hughes’ murder instead of Ross.
 * Hughes tips off where Laboratory 5 is to Mustang before he dies.
 * Shou Tucker plays a slightly more prominent role in that he holds Winry and Alphonse as hostages during his escape to Laboratory 5.
 * Scar is omitted from the film, so Lust is the one to kill Tucker instead.
 * Edward learns of the ingredients to the Philosopher’s Stone through looking at the runes of its transmutation circle, not from Dr. Marcoh’s notes.
 * Mustang is shown to be able to shoot out a continuous stream of fire from his hands. In the original story, his attacks are limited to explosions and shorter bursts of flame.
 * Lust is killed by Mustang ripping out her Philosopher’s Stone. Her body does not reform around the stone and the stone does not disappear upon her death.
 * Mustang presents Edward with the opportunity to restore his and Alphonse’s body with a stone, not Ling Yao.
 * Edward attempts to use the stone before ultimately rejecting it.
 * Edward sees Alphonse’s frail body with the real Gate while attempting to restore his body, not from escaping through Gluttony’s false gate.
 * Envy is apparently burned to death by Mustang's flames, but is actually reduced to its parasitic form, unbeknownst to anyone, before crawling away.
 * The army of Mannequin Homunculi make an earlier appearance and have slight alterations in their design, most notably being more muscular and having red lines on their bodies follow a more "natural," vein-like pattern.

Production
Principal photography took place in Italy and Japan from June to August 2016.