Hollywood production company Twilight Entertainment has acquired the right to create a live action film version of the venerable manga and anime property Lupin III.  Producer Gerald Molen (Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Shindler's List) is in charge of the project and he indicated to Screen Daily that he was planning to blend international actors and Hollywood stars in an effort to capitalize on the property's international appeal (the anime series has appeared in close to 100 countries).  Twilight Entertainment plans to start shooting on its Lupin III live action film before the end of 2003, and to release the film within two years.

 

Created in the 1960s by writer Kazuhiko Kato, Lupin III is a madcap action comedy, which has enjoyed major success as a manga and then as a TV anime and in a series of animated feature films (including the masterpiece, The Castle of Cagliostro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki).  Currently the Lupin III TV series is playing on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.  Pioneer is releasing DVDs of the classic TV series, while Funimation is releasing a number of Lupin III features (Manga Entertainment has The Castle of Cagliostro), and Tokyopop is publishing English editions of the Lupin III manga.  In addition to the Lupin III manga and anime items that are available, Diamond Comic Distributors is also importing a number of Lupin III toys and figures, which should help retailers to capitalize on this property in a big way during 2003 (see 'Diamond Select Has Lupin III').