Gantz Live Action Films confirmed!

**Shani Andras** · 10-07-2009, 07:33 PM

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...ve-action-film

The NTV News 25 program and Sports Hochi newspaper report on Thursday that Hiroya Oku's Gantz science-fiction action manga will be adapted into two live-action films starring Kazunari Ninomiya (Tekkonkinkreet, Letters from Iwo Jima) of the Arashi musical group and award-winning actor Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City, NANA, The Legend of Kamui). Shinsuke Sato (The Princess Blade, Suna-dokei, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror) is directing.

The story follows a young Tokyo college student who is reanimated after a deadly subway accident. Kei Kurono (Ninomiya) and his friend Masaru Kato (Matsuyama) go on violent, seemingly endless missions at the behest of an unseen host.

This is the first time that these two well-known actors have worked together. Filming begins next month and is slated to end next April. The two leads have been undergoing training and practicing action sequences. The films will open in the winter and spring of 2011.

Oku just returned from a three-month hiatus to launch the "Final Phase" of his Gantz manga in this year's 44th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine on Thursday. Gantz has been running in the magazine since July of 2000, and the 26 current volumes have sold over 10 million copies.

Dark Horse Comics announced at Anime Expo 2007 that it licensed the manga for North America, and it will publish the eighth volume next month. ADV Films released Gonzo's television anime adaptation of the manga.

http://yj.shueisha.co.jp/gantzspecial/

**Geooooo** · 10-07-2009, 07:56 PM

Awesome news! But I hope they don't screw it up.

**Requiem46** · 10-08-2009, 09:40 AM

I have a bad feeling about this >.<

**Tormentor** · 10-08-2009, 12:08 PM

I want to know who will be the jap girls with big tits >droll<

**Fireblast345** · 10-08-2009, 07:45 PM

Damn.. gantz sold 10 million copies in 9 years? Not to shabby.. for a R rated manga... Kenishi (L) is one of the few actors im looking forward to so him alone would make this movie bearable

**ikari** · 10-09-2009, 12:24 AM

L as Kato... woah, thats pretty awesome... I havent got to see Death Note yet, so I may purchase it to check the guy out.

Two movies and at least the start is faithful to the manga and will follow Kei and Kato. Oh, and more thing...

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS AWESOME!!! *fanboy squeee!*

...heh.

**teioh** · 10-21-2009, 12:34 PM

AWESOME!
Can't wait!

And the staff is composed of people from 20th Century Boys Movie and Death Note Movie so i'm pretty sure this will be a good movie!

**ikari** · 10-22-2009, 12:20 AM

This is pretty much guaranteed to end up on dvd in the west at some time with such high profile staff and budget going into it.

Just noticed a few things investigating the actors and such involved; the actor playing Kei (inspired casting from some pics I saw on Google images of him in school uniform from his idol band) is 24 and looking further on, I noticed the Gantz movie has the two leads in College/University, not High School.

Not much of a big deal really but I am starting to wonder how far they'll go into the story and what other changes there will be (as discussed before it will be near impossible to get even Phase 1 into a proper trilogy so there will have to be some concessions, I just hope they try to do something different to the anime...).