News

Shaked Berenson’s company sets September 1 US release.

Shaked Berenson’s LA-based distribution and sales company Entertainment Squad has acquired worldwide rights to the dramatic thriller Root Letter from Japan’s Ammo Inc. and California-based Ammo Entertainment and will launch international sales in Toronto.

Emmy-nominated Sonja O’Hara directed from David Ebeltoft’s adapted screenplay based on the video game from Kadokawa Games.

Danny Ramirez from Top Gun: Maverick stars as Carlos, an impoverished teen, who sets off to help an old school pen pal, Sarah, who tells him she has killed someone.

Carlos uncovers a criminal plot involving Sarah’s...

UK filmmaker Ben Jagger directed, co-wrote.

Voltage Pictures has licensed US rights on J-horror Room 203 from from Japan’s Ammo Inc. and California-based Ammo Entertainment to Vertical Entertainment.

UK filmmaker Ben Jagger directed the feature about two female roommates tormented by vengeful spirits dwelling in their gothic-style apartment which contains an ornate centrepiece.

Rising actors Francesca Xuereb, Viktoria Vinyarska and Eric Wiegand star.

John Poliquin, Jagger and Nick Richey adapted the screenplay from Nanami Kamon’s Japanese novel published by Kobunsha. Producers are Ammo Entertainment’s Annmarie Sairrino and Ammo Inc.’s Moeko Suzuki, alongside Kat McPhee, Ben Anderson and Eric Gibson.

UK director Ben Jagger directed and co-wrote feature based on Nanami Kamon’s Japanese novel.

Voltage Pictures has added another commercially appealing title to its Cannes market slate, boarding worldwide sales on English-language J-horror Room 203 from Japan’s Ammo Inc. and California-based Ammo Entertainment.

UK director Ben Jagger’s feature is adapted from Nanami Kamon’s Japanese novel and follows two female roommates tormented by vengeful spirits dwelling in their gothic-style apartment which contains an ornate centrepiece.

John Poliquin (Shudder’s Spiral), Jagger and Nick Richey (Low Low) co-wrote the screenplay. The cast features Francesca Xuereb, Viktoria Vinyarska and Eric Wiegand.

Akatsuki Entertainment, the U.S. film production branch of Japanese gaming firm Akatsuki, has recently wrapped production on English-language horror feature “Room 203.” It is now looking for investors.

Adapted from a Japanese novel from Kobunsha Publishing, the story is a tale of two female roommates who are tormented by the vengeful spirits dwelling in their gothic-style, rented apartment, which contains an ornate centerpiece. The adapted screenplay is by John Poliquin, Jagger and Nick Richey (“Low Low”).

Filming took place in Shreveport, California under full Covid-19 protocols with rising British director Ben Jagger (“Corbin Nash” and the upcoming “Dark Peak”) in the chair. The cast is headed by Francesca Xuereb, Viktoria Vinyarska and Eric Wiegand.

“The apartment is a decrepit, but amazing American Gothic. But there’s an ever-present smell of rot, eerie sounds and noises,” said Bradley in a prepared text. “As the warning signs mount, one of the women...

An English-language film adaptation of Japanese video game “Root Letter,” starring Danny Ramirez, is in production in the U.S. through Akatsuki Entertainment USA. Besides Ramirez, the film stars Keana Marie and Lydia Hearst.

With a screenplay by David Ebeltoft (2016 Tribeca Film Festival’s “Here Alone”), the film is intended as a gritty re-imagining of the game’s core story of a protagonist in search of a former pen pal who disappears under curious circumstances.

The underlying Kadokawa-published game has two main gameplay sequences. First, the player interrogates people who knew the missing girl. Then the player relives the missing years and makes use of clues gathered earlier.

The game was first published in 2016 and has been made available on platforms including PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Android and iOS. It sold more than 400,000 copies in Japan and overseas, and is also available on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

The...

The company is partnering with All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew), Nippon Television and Chris and Paul Weitz’s production company Depth Of Field.

EuropaCorp holds worldwide rights and will join its partners to develop, finance and produce the English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s Japanese thriller and 2013 Cannes competition selection.

Shield Of Straw centres on five police officers tasked with protecting a killer who has been targeted by his victim’s wealthy grandfather.

Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt are writing the screenplay.

The producer of the original work, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitazima, reprises his role alongside Depth Of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen, and Anew CEO Sandy Climan and EuropaCorp.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of bringing the remake of the Japanese thriller Shield Of Straw to American audiences and the worldwide market,” said EuropaCorp president Lisa Ellzey, who made Monday...

Plus: Paul Haggis keynore set for Script To Screen summit in Toronto; Cartagena Film Festival announces 2017 dates; and more…

Ellen Shanman will adapt Tiger & Bunny for Imagine Entertainment, All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew) and Bandai Namco Pictures.

The live-action English-language feature is based on the Japanese anime series and feature films set in a near-futuristic city where professional superheroes known fight crime.

Shanman is the author of the novels Right Before Your Eyes and Everything Nice, which she adapted for Charlize Theron’s Denver & Delilah Productions.

Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Anew CEO Sandy Climan and Annmarie Bailey will produce with Masayuki Ozaki on behalf of Bandai Namco Pictures.

Paul Haggis will deliver the keynote address at Winston Baker’s Script To Screen Summit in Toronto on September 9. Panel participants include Telefilm Canada feature film executive Stephanie Azam, ICM Partners head of international and independent film Jessica Lacy, Elevation Pictures head Laurie May, Covert Media founder...

The Hollywood and Japanese producers are joining forces on a live action, English-language version of the hit anime TV series.

Imagine Entertainment is partnering with Tokyo- and Hollywood-based All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew) and Japan’s Bandai Namco Pictures to develop and produce Tiger & Bunny, an English-language live action feature version of the Japanese anime series and movies.

The film is being produced by Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Anew’s Sandy Climan and Annmarie Bailey, and, for Bandai Namco, Masayuki Ozaki. Ozaki produced the original Japanese Tiger & Bunny brand for anime studio Sunrise, from which Bandai Namco was spun off earlier this year.

With characters designed by manga artist Masakazu Katsura, Tiger & Bunny first appearedin Japan in 2011 as a late night TV series. Two animated features films followed in 2014. The stories take place in a near-future city where professional superheroes fight crime and old school veteran Tiger is forced to collaborate with cocky rookie...