So, you've read the manga, loved the anime and got hooked on the games, but are you ready to see Son Goku and his friends take on the big screen? 20th Century Fox surely is.

According to Canadian news site Canada.com, 20th Century Fox has given the go-ahead to three major film productions, one of them being a live-action movie based on Akira Toriyama's brainchild.

The movie will reportedly have a budget of no less than US$ 100 million, and will begin production soon with no details as to when it's projected to be shown.

The Dragon Ball Z franchise is considered as one of the most popular literary franchises in the world, with deals encompassing print, TV, video games, clothing and toys. Let's hope that this project yields results that will give justice to the legendary series. We'd love to see how the actors will go Super Saiyan on us.

Atari announced today the upcoming European release of the Nintendo DS title Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu. Published by Namco Bandai Games Europe SAS and distributed in Europe by Atari, the game is currently scheduled for an August release in Europe.

The game combines strategic card-based gameplay and role playing elements for the first time in a DBZ game. Player progression is determined through their use of the cards to evolve characters, strengthen moves and create new moves. Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu also supports wireless battle for up to 4 players and includes a game sharing mode.

Goku Densetsu looks like a re-titled Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu. In fact, our gut tells us that it is indeed Harukanaru Densetsu. Of course, feel free to correct out gut because it gets confused sometimes, usually after ingesting a lot of chilli dogs. Anyway, check out the screenshots below.

More screenshots after the jump!

It's been a long time since we have heard something new about Atari's Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu. Over at Siliconera, they posted an interview with Donny Clay, an official at Atari North America. He refreshed our memory by saying that DBZ: Harukanaru Densetsu covers the animated series from the Vegeta saga to the Cell saga. The playable characters are Gohan, Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta. He also gave a brief explanation of the game's card battle system flow:

Each player selects a card (or combo of cards) to play each round. The player with the higher number wins the round and is able to apply that damage against their opponent’s defense that round. This is depicted as an animated sequence...

There are three kinds of combos that can be unlocked through game-play. They are: Attack combo, Defense combo, and Action combo. These combos allow the user to combine the power levels of multiple cards in a single play. Once unlocked, a card with a 5 star Attack, for example, can be combined with other cards with 5 stars.

With 200 cards that you could collect, there are bound to be some rare cards that could be obtained. As for support for multiplayer battles using Nintendo WiFi, Clay said that the game's doesn't support the WiFi system, but you could play wirelessly with people near you. The game is slated for a North American release this coming June 5.

We finally have some new screenshots of Atari's upcoming Dragon Ball Z title for the Nintendo DS. Check 'em out below.

Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu is a departure from the usual fighting formula seen in recent titles in the franchise. The game promises to deliver a strategic card-based and role-playing experience. According to a GameSpot preview, Harukanaru Densetsu will employ the board game presentation seen in Budokai 2 on consoles. Players get to move around the board, engaging in fierce card-based combat with some familiar characters from the popular series.

Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu is slated for a May 1 release.

Allow this blogger to geek out for a bit. Here he goes: You know what's weird about Dragon Ball Z fandom in North America? If you actually take the time to listen to the Japanese advertisements for the game, the "Z" in the name isn't pronounced as "Zee" but as "Zeto". So all those fan-boys had the name wrong for the longest time! Blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, *scratches facial dandruff off cheecks*, blah blah blah... Okay, okay, enough of the geekery.

Isn't it annoying when over zealous fans just walk up to you and bombard you with factoids about their current obsession? Isn't it hell when for some reason, they just love cleaning their facial regions with their greasy digits while they obsess? Apparently nose-picking and dandruff removal is something that they want you to witness while you bask in their factoid über-ness.

Anyway, here's a Dragon Ball Z related factoid that all you well-adjusted, socially appropriate folks will appreciate: IGN reports that Atari has recently announced the development of two entirely new Dragon Ball Z titles for handhelds. They're set to develop Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road for the PSP and Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu for the Nintendo DS.

The PSP game will be a 3D fighting game, and the DS offering will be a "strategic card-based and role-playing" experience.

Both games are set to hit retail this spring.