Dr. Stone creator's next manga has jumped the anime pipeline straight for a Hollywood movie
Some lesser-known mangas are making the jump to live-action too.
Production company Majestic Limited has struck a deal to develop a movie adaptation of Kodansha's Origin manga.
The comic, which has just hit US shelves, was written and illustrated by renowned Korean manga artist Boichi (Dr. Stone, Sun-Ken Rock). Origin, as described by Variety, is "set in a near-future where humanity has achieved incredible advancements in technology and robotics" and "tells a story of self-discovery, morality, and what it means to be human." So... it's a rather familiar cyberpunk story, though looks can be deceiving with mangas. The site broke the news yesterday, announcing Majestic had worked out a deal with the famed publishing house Kondasha. The company was founded by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), Danny Chan (Barbarian), and Darius Shahmir (Midnight Special).
Kodansha is one of Japan's most famous publishing houses because of its dynamic roster of artists and collaborators tackling many genres and different platforms. The US subsidiary, which of course is handling the distribution of Origin, typically publishes English-language manga and Japan-based fiction and non-fiction books. It's an approach that has allowed it to expand beyond the traditional self-imposed borders of manga publishers.
While Boone himself would be a reasonable pick to direct the adaptation, which is being set up slightly ahead of the curve of Hollywood studios charging into as many manga/anime properties as they can, no creatives are confirmed at this moment. Takami Yohei, head of Kodansha's rights and media business unit, is excited about making Origin bigger than it already is: "We are excited to bring a new form of Origin, an amazing sci-fi story created by Boichi-sensei, to the global audiences, and to collaborate with Majestic." It remains to be seen how long it'll actually take to get this adaptation off the ground. With the manga suddenly blowing up outside Japan, this project should be a priority for Majestic.
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