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Futabasha comes out in Support of Old Boy Plans

Posted by LadyPSerenity in News Articles July 01, 2009 at 11:43:08 AM

Japanese publisher Futabasha has stated on Tuesday - in Japanese and in English - that its legal dispute with the South Korean studio Show East will not affect the planned Hollywood movie adaptation of the Old Boy manga. The original manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi was published by Futabasha in 1996 to 1998 and Show East produced Park Chan-Wook's live-action Korean film adaptation in 2003. Futabasha filed a lawsuit in the Seoul Central District Court against Show East for alleged violations of their agreement, resulting in a breach in contract, on August 15. There is still no confirmnation if Show East is bankrupt, or if the studio even still exists as a coporate entity.

The support of Tsuchiya and Minegishi as well as the Japanese publisher was offtered to DreamWorks by Futabasha for DreamWorks plans to adapt the manga with director Steven Spielberg and actor Will Smith.

Futabasha Board Member Kenji Honda added, “We are very excited about this latest Old Boy project. Currently, the option rights are held by Universal Pictures. The legal action should not affect Universal's rights or the DreamWorks project in any way. The suit was commenced to protect the rights of Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, as well as to enforce and protect the rights of Futabasha under the contract with Show East."

Futabasha also published the original manga versions of Lone Wolf and Cub, Lupin III, and Crayon Shin-chan. Plans for live-action Hollywood remakes of both Lone Wolf and Cub and Lupin III were announced in 2003, but little to no progress on either project has since been made public.

Source: Anime News Network

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