J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures will be teaming up to make a live-action adaptation of the hit Japanese anime Your Name. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot and Paramount announced on Wednesday that they will collaborate with Japan-based Toho Co., Ltd., which is credited with the production of the original animated film, to turn the critically acclaimed anime into a live-action science fiction. Toho will manage the film’s distribution rights across Japan.
“Just like in the film it feels like a dream,” said Genki Kawamura, producer of both the original and remake. “Mr. Abrams and his team have captivated audiences in their masterful reinvention of known properties. And Mitsuha and Taki have found a perfect narrator, Mr. Heisserer, to tell their sci-fi infused love story which gave the film such drive.”
Created, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, Your Name was released in 2016. The movie became an instant hit both in and out of Japan. It grossed $303 million in Japan, which made it the second-highest grossing domestic film, behind Hayao Miyazaki‘s Spirited Away, and the fourth-largest ever, behind the likes of Titanic and Frozen. Its worldwide box office earnings of $355 million made it the highest grossing anime film and the fourth highest-grossing non-English movie.
The film narrates the story of a boy and girl from different backgrounds, united by their ability to swap bodies. As the story progresses, they embark upon the quest for finding each other by breaking the barriers of space and time as disaster looms large. The movie bagged a whole host of awards, including the Best Animated Film Award at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.
With franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek and Mission Impossible credited to Abrams, anime fans are in for an agonizing wait till the movie hits the big screen.
Source: Variety.com
I’m not normally a fan of live action anime films but this does have me very very interested….