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COLUMBIA PICTURES OPTIONS REMAKE RIGHTS TO JAPANESE HIT FILM “BIG MAN JAPAN”

Posted Monday, June 6th, 2011 - Comments Off on COLUMBIA PICTURES OPTIONS REMAKE RIGHTS TO JAPANESE HIT FILM “BIG MAN JAPAN”
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CULVER CITY, Calif., June 3, 2011 – Columbia Pictures has optioned remake and sequel rights to Big Man Japan, which will be developed and produced into a new feature film by Neal H. Moritz through his Original Film banner, it was announced today by Hannah Minghella, president of production for Columbia Pictures.  Big Man Japan was a breakthrough hit in Japan in 2007 and a cult hit in the United States in 2009.  Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi will write the new adaptation.

Set in a world where monsters wreak havoc, there’s one man who can protect the citizenry: Big Man Japan, who runs the Department of Monster Prevention.  Using electricity, he can grow to be 10 stories tall and fight off the most menacing of monsters.  The problem is that he’s not very good at his job and often causes as much damage as he prevents.  The people believe he’s a joke – and not nearly as good at the job as his father and grandfather were before he took over the family business.

The option for all non Japanese language rights to the film were secured through Yoshimoto Kogyo Co, Ltd, and their affiliate Yoshimoto Creative Agency, Ltd, producers of the original film that was directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto.

Toby Jaffe will oversee development for Original.

NEAL H. MORITZ is the founder of Original Film. His most recent releases include Fast Five, which has taken in more than $540 million worldwide to date, making it the most successful film in the franchise, and Battle: Los Angeles, which has grossed more than $200 million worldwide so far.  His next film is Universal Pictures’ comedy The Change Up.  He is currently in production on 21 Jump Street and Total Recall, and he is in pre-production on Warner Bros.’ Jack the Giant Killer.  His past titles include The Green Hornet, The Fast and Furious series, I Am Legend, XXX, S.W.A.T., Made of Honor, Gridiron Gang, Bounty Hunter, Evan Almighty, Sweet Home Alabama, Click, Vantage Point, Out of Time, Blue Streak, Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Skulls, Volcano, Urban Legend, and Juice.

PHIL HAY & MATT MANFREDI most recently wrote the screenplay for the box office hit Clash of the Titans; they previously wrote the screenplay for the 2005 sci-fi thriller Aeon Flux. The writing partners made their screenwriting debut in 2001 with the critically acclaimed drama Crazy/Beautiful. Manfredi also wrote and co-directed with Hay the independent feature Bug, starring John Carroll Lynch, which garnered multiple film festival awards in 2002.   Upcoming projects for Hay and Manfredi include the comic book adaptations R.I.P.D. and The Boys, both for producer Neal H. Moritz.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 140 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

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~ David Simon