Live Action Anime

ANN reported yesterday that Australia’s Arclight Films, Canada’s Wizzfilms, the Infotainment China Media Company, and the United Kingdom’s Latec International are set to collaborate with Singapore’s Axxis International to produce a live-action adaptation of Bubblegum Crisis. The project, budgeted at $30 million, is set for a 2012 release date.

The producers are presently negotiating a director and cast for the film which will reportedly be shot in Australia. A spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter that the film will feature two male leads and a femalle quartet, two of whom will be Asian and two Caucasian.

Katsuhito Akiyama’s original Bubblegum Crisis OVA ran from 1987 to 1991, set in a dystopic futuristic Tokyo and followed an all-female sentai team whose role it was to deal with crimes involving the artificial entities known as Boomers. Having since spawned various spin-off series including AD Police Files, Parasite Dolls and Bubblegum Crisis, Tokyo 2040, to this day it is regarded as one of the seminal works of anime cyberpunk and a cult classic.

Word of a live-action adaptation then, is pretty big news. Axxis have confirmed that 70% of the film’s funding has been accumulated already, so hopefully this one will see a smooth production process rather than languishing in development hell like so many other live-action adaptations. Whether or not it will do justice to its source material, it’s still early to say, but keep an eye out for this one.

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