Anime 35

The Weinstein Co. has acquired worldwide rights to the live-action remake of Yasuomi Umetsu’s Japanese anime film Kite. Samuel L. Jackson stars with India Eisley (The Secret Life Of The American Teenager) and Callan McAuliffe (The Great Gatsby). South African director Ralph Ziman (Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema) stepped in for the late David R. Ellis back in February and filming has just wrapped. TWC is handling outside the U.S., South Africa and India. The original 1998 Kite was controversial for its graphic depictions of sex and violence involving an orphaned girl who’s taken under the wing of a pair of corrupt detectives. The update is described as a character-driven action film that charts the story of Sawa, a young woman living in a failed state after the financial collapse, where a corrupt security force profits on the trafficking of young women. When Sawa’s policeman father is killed, she vows to track the murderer down with the help of his ex-partner. Distant Horizon’s Anant Singh and Brian Cox are producers with Detalle Films’ Moises Cosio and Alberto Muffelmann as co-producers.

The company will handle global sales, excluding the U.S., South Africa and India, for the live-action remake of the Japanese anime hit.read more