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Fox in Talks for Live-Action Japanese Paradise Kiss Film
posted on 2009-05-17 16:22 EDT

Japan's IMJ to adapt Ai Yazawa's fashion manga with budget of US$3-4 million

The Fox International production company is negotiating to adapt Ai Yazawa's Paradise Kiss fashion and romance manga into a Japanese-language, live-action film. The story centers around a high school student named Yukari who is discovered by "Paradise Kiss," a group of up-and-coming fashion school students. The students transform Yukari into a fashion model, and she discovers a new passion for a future career and potential romance in her personal life.

Fox International is working with Japan's IMJ production company to produce the film with a budget of US$3 million to US$4 million. The two studios plan to establish a traditional Japanese production committee of partner companies to market the film across several fields. Fox International is also producing a Japanese version of the 2004 sleeper hit film Sideways with lead actress Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, The Sky Crawlers). The publisher Shodensha sold 6 million copies of the original manga's five volumes since Yazawa serialized the story in the company's Zipper fashion magazine from 1999 to 2003. The manga has also been translated into 10 languages, including English.

Tokyopop began publishing the original manga in North America in 2001, and Aatelevision anime version aired in Japan in 2005. Geneon Entertainment (USA) licensed the anime for North America in 2006, although Funimation is releasing the anime in DVD box sets now.

Yazawa also created the NANA manga about polar-opposite roommates in Tokyo, and that manga has sold 34 million copies so far. IMJ and the Japanese TBS television network adapted NANA into two hit live-action films, and Aniplex and Madhouse adapted it into a television anime series. Viz Media is releasing the NANA manga, as well as its live-action and anime adaptations.


Source: The Hollywood Reporter, ANN