live-action

[lahyv-ak-shuhn]

adjective

1. of or relating to movies, videos, and the like, that feature real performers, as distinguished from animation.

   A new live-action version of the classic animated film will be released later this year.

2. Informal.,  live.

Other Word Forms

• live action noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of live-action¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

"Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie," a live-action/animation hybrid based on a popular Netflix children's series, stayed put in fourth place, with $3.4 million in the United States and Canada.

Read more on Barron's

They are also quick to rule out rumours of a Kpop Demon Hunters live-action adaptation.

Read more on BBC

Writers are working on scripts for a live-action television series and executives have discussed spinoff films for certain characters or a stripped-down, lower budget movie.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Netflix now has subtitled anime in 33 languages and dubbed titles in about a dozen, said Yuji Yamano, Netflix’s director of content acquisition in Japan, who joined the company in 2019 to lead the licensing and acquisition of local live-action and anime content.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Though there have been attempts, such as 2017’s controversial live-action “Ghost in the Shell,” starring Scarlett Johansson, and the John Cho-led series remake “Cowboy Bebop” in 2021, both flopped.

Read more on Los Angeles Times