China.org caught up with with Dragon Ball producer Stephen Chow who spoke briefly about the film and his casting suggestions for Chi-Chi.

“I have been a Dragon Ball fan for a long time,” Stephen Chow, who presented many classics including Kung Fu Hustle, told the Oriental Morning Post, “The airy and unstrained story leaves much room for creation.” Chow also explained why he would not be directing the film, “I only direct original movies that I have composed. This is my principle.”

Chow is recommending Zhang Yuqi, leading actress in his new sci-fi film A Hope, to play the role of Goku’s girlfriend in the film.

Read the full article at the above link.

Justin Chatwin

James Marsters

Now that there is little doubt that DBZ wont happen, I thought I’d make a post on every fact known so far about this production.

1. Justin Chatwin (The Invisible, War Of The Worlds)has been cast as Goku. He’s currently training for the part.
2. James Masters (Buffy) has been cast as Piccolo. Piccolo will be the films main villain.
3. James Wong (Final Destination, The One) will direct from a script that he wrote.
4. Steven Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) is producing.
5. Filming is set to take place in Durango, Mexico. The cameras start rolling at the end of this month.
6. Robert McLachlan is the Director of Photography.
7. Stunt Performance company 87Eleven (The Matrix, 300) will handle the action sequences.
8. 20th Century Fox is planning an August 15, 2008 release date.

SuperHeroHype reports that Justin Chatwin (The Invisible, War of the Worlds) and James Marsters (Buffy fame) have been cast as Goku and Piccolo respecively.

Visit the above link for more details.

EDIT:
From Hollywood Reporter:

‘Dragonball’ movie set to roll
By Borys Kit
Nov 14, 2007 

“Dragonball”
Twentieth Century Fox is finally moving forward with a live-action adaptation of the hugely popular manga “Dragonball,” casting the stars of the movie and setting a release date of next summer.

Justin Chatwin is starring as the hero while James Marsters will play the villain in the sci-fi adventure, which will be directed by James Wong. The movie has been penciled in for a worldwide release date of Aug. 15, 2008. Stephen Chow, the filmmaker behind “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Shaolin Soccer,” is producing.

“Dragonball” is one of the most successful Japanese cultural exports of all time. The manga, created by Akira Toriyama and published by Tokyo’s Jump Comics, was adapted into graphic novels, video games and a phenomenally successful television series that ran in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. “Dragonball’s” popularity also generated more than $4 billion in merchandising sales. In North America, the property achieved the zenith of its popularity under the name “Dragonball Z.”

The story follows an adult humanoid alien named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name.

Chatwin, who will play Goku, has already begun training under the auspices of stunt performance company 87Eleven, which has executed and designed action pieces in pictures such as “The Matrix,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “300.” Marsters is playing the villainous Piccolo.

Wong rewrote the previous draft by Ben Ramsey.

Production begins later this year. Other major roles are currently being cast.

Chatwin, repped by WMA, is best known for his playing Tom Cruise’s on in Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds.”

Marsters is best known for his role as vampire Spike on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Piccolo. He is repped by the Kohner Agency and Himber Entertainment

Wong co-wrote and directed “Finale Destination” and “Final Destination 3,” and was a writer-exec producer on “The X-Files.” He is repped by Endeavor.

It seems the cast list reported by CHUD a few weeks ago may indeed be true. IGN Blogs has discovered a casting exchange website that has a list of characters appearing in DBZ:

Here is an updated list of the technical crew working on DBZ thus far: