Mamoru Oshii, the world-famous Japanese filmmaker behind the anime favorite Ghost in the Shell and its sequel, Innocence, is set to direct a new animated feature titled The Sky Crawlers. Based on a popular five-part novel by Mori Hiroshi, the film is being animated by Production I.G and is set for release in Japan in 2008.
Set in an alternative reality, The Sky Crawlers revolves around youngsters called ‘Kildren,’ who never age beyond adolescence and live with the knowledge that every day could be the last as they fight a organized by adults for the sake of entertainment. The Production I.G website (www.productionig.com) quotes author Hiroshi saying that he regards the novel as the most difficult of all his works to adapt to film. Up-and-coming screenwriter Chihiro Ito (Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World; Spring Snow) has been tapped to pen the script.
Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell topped the Billboard video chart in the U.S., and Innocence became first Japanese animated film to compete for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Int’l Film Festival. With their philosophical speculations of future society and revolutionary visual approach, his films have been credited with inspiring such live-action works as Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element and the Wachowskis’ Matrix trilogy.
A collaboration between Nippon Television Network Corp. and Production I.G Inc., The Sky Crawlers is being produced by Tomohiko Ishii, with Seiji Okuda and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa serving as exec producers. Tetsuya Nishio is key animation director for the film, which will be distributed in theaters across Japan by Warner Entertainment Japan Inc in 2008. The official Japanese website is http://sky.crawlers.jp.
Production I.G. has also teamed with manga mastermind Shirow Masmune (Ghost in the Shell) for a new animated series titled Real Drive. Kazuhiro Furuhasi (Le Chevalier d’Eon) is set to direct the show, and Junichi Fujisaku (Ghost in the Shell series) has been tapped as writer. Masamune provided the original story, and manga artist Tetsuro Ueyama will deliver the character design.
Set in the year 2061, Real Drive follows what happens when humans release their innermost feelings and hostilities in what is supposed to be a super-secure cyberspace. As expected in this genre, an investigator is roped in to look into the unexpected mishaps and aberrations of this brave, new technological world. The NTV network will premiere the show this spring.
