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The projects will be unveiled on Thursday at the second annual A-Japan event, a program designed to help Hollywood producers tap into Japan's treasure trove of unadapted IP.
Japanese entertainment giant Amuse Inc. has unveiled a slate of seven curated projects that it will pitch to the Hollywood creative community for potential adaption or co-production during the upcoming A-JAPAN content showcase event later this week. The projects span best-selling manga and YA novels, as well as successful TV and film projects for remake.
The inaugural A-Japan event was held in 2021 and featured industry panels and six pieces of Japanese IP for collaboration. According to Amuse, four of those projects have been picked up by U.S. partners and are currently in development.
The 2022 A-Japan will be held Thursday online at 11 a.m. PT. This year’s panelists will include Japanese author Hiroshi Sakurazaka, whose novel All You Need Is Kill was adapted into the Warner Bros. film Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise; Yukiharu Marutomi, a former editor-in-chief at Tokyo-based publisher Shueisha who facilitated Sakurazaka’s adaptation deal; as well as licensing executives from Akita Publishing, one of Japan’s biggest manga publishers. The speakers are expected to discuss tips and best practices for accessing Japan’s treasure trove of unadapted manga, literature, gaming and screen IP.
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“Through the global infrastructure of digital streaming and publishing, Japanese IP is more easily accessible to worldwide fans than ever and it has become a worldwide phenomenon as some of the hottest entertainment content in the industry.” says Yasu Kutami, vice president of Amuse Group USA. “But I believe it’s still the tip of the iceberg. There are so many hidden treasures just below the famous anime and manga titles you have already watched and read. A-JAPAN 2022 is an event where we introduce hand-selected, excellent Japanese IP and help international producers discover distinctive Japan-made concepts for their project slates. I’m fully confident that people will find all the seven of this year’s IP very fresh, unique and adaptable for the U.S. and other markets.”
Kokkoku: Moment by Moment A young woman discovers her family’s secret ability to stop time and enter a world called “Stasis” when her brother and nephew are kidnapped. Now she and her dysfunctional family must survive amid bizarre supernatural creatures and a cult leader determined to kill them all.
The Monster Development Department An evil organization seeking world domination frequently does battle with superheroes and the forces of good. Behind the scenes, their low-level employees fight the most fearsome rival of all — corporate bureaucracy.
Seven Shakespeares Amid brutal creative rivalries, interpersonal conflicts and heightened religious persecution, William Shakespeare fights for a place at the top of London’s theatrical food chain — by secretly collaborating with six people with unique abilities to create his famous plays.
Sparks A retired judge lives a peaceful life with his family — until a man he once acquitted of murder moves in next door. While their new neighbor wins the family over with his charms, sinister incidents begin happening around the house that unravel the family’s fragile dynamic.
There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job A 36-year-old woman who is burnt out from her demanding career asks her employment agent for jobs that require little-to-no reading, writing or thinking. What results is a series of increasingly odd jobs that reveal that what she’s looking for might be something deeper than an easy job.
Still, Life Goes On Fifteen years after a little girl’s murder, the killer’s sister and the victim’s brother begin an unlikely relationship, working together to track down the murderer who has been recently released back into society.
Stolen Identity A man accidentally leaving his phone in a taxi sets off a series of terrifying events when a tech-savvy stalker picks it up and targets his girlfriend — who is keeping secrets of her own.
A-Japan is jointly organized by Amuse USA and the Visual Industry Promotion Organization, a Japanese government-affiliated agency that promotes Japanese content on the world stage. Pre-registration is now open online. https://LP.amusegroupusa.com/Ajapan2022. The event will stream exclusively on the website beginning June 23 at 11 a.m. PT, and will be available to view until July 1.
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