Released in Japan on July 09, 2025,Road to Ninjais based onMasashi Kishimoto’s manga and anime series, like every other production in the Naruto franchise.Hayato Dateserved as director while production was handled byMakoto ShiraishiandNaoji Hohnokidani. About two years later,The Lastwas released, becoming the tenth film based on Kishimoto’s manga. It was directed byTsuneo Kobayashiand produced byTakuyuki Hirobe, Hohnokidani andShoji Matsui. As forBoruto, a sequel toThe Last, it was released on August 24, 2025, withHiroyuki Yamashitadirecting.
Road to Ninja,set after episode 251 ofNaruto Shippuden, sees Naruto and Sakura transported to a reality where both of Naruto’s parents are alive, Sakura is an orphan, and Sasuke never left Konoha. In addition,The Last, set after episode 493 ofShippuden, follows Naruto and his friends discovering that the moon will collide with Earth, an event caused by a descendant of The Sage of Six Paths. And inBoruto, which occurs after the finale ofNaruto Shippudenand beforeBoruto: Naruto Next Generations:“With Naruto as the Seventh Hokage, Hidden Leaf Village is planning to host the Chunin Exams to train new shinobi from the village and from five of their allied villages.”
The ‘Naruto’ Films Have Gone Far
It goes without saying that these threeNarutomovies coming to Netflix will boost their popularity; however, they have also been doing well on their own.Road to Ninjabecame the highest-grossingNarutofilm, earning $18.3 million between its opening on July 28 and June 25, 2025, but was surpassed byThe Last, which, as the title implies, is the last film in theNarutofranchiseand became the franchise’s top-grossing feature film after amassing $14.76 million in December 2014. Still, its sequel,Boruto, topped these two by having the highest-grossing opening and becoming the 11th highest-grossing Japanese film and the 7th highest-grossing anime film at the Japanese box office in 2015.
Road to Ninja,The LastandBorutowill arrive at Netflix on July 7, so do stay tuned to Collider for further updates. Meanwhile, catch up on another Naruto saga,Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
