Gantz Live-Action Movies In 2011

Just as the Gantz manga entered its "Final Phase" this month, it was announced that two live-action movies are now in the making. The filming will be done starting from next month, until next April, however fans will have to wait for another year after that, for the theatrical premiere. As it stands now, the first movie will debut in early 2011, and the second one will follow in spring 2011.



Whether you know it from its original manga version created by Hiroya Oku, or from the 2004 anime adaptation (that is, if you know it at all), Gantz is one hell of a brutal and nerve-racking series; enough so that the initial TV airing was splattered with censoring and even skipped an episode altogether. Thus, naturally, expectations for the movies should be pretty high from head start.

The film's lead actors will be Kazunari Ninomiya (Tekkon Kinkreet, Letters from Iwo Jima) and Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City, NANA, Kamui Gaiden), with Shinsuke Sato (The Princess Blade, Suna-dokei, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror) named as director.

The Japanese publisher Shueisha has already opened a website for the upcoming live-action films. Its 44th issue of the Weekly Young Jump magazine resumed the manga's serialization earlier this month, as Hiroya Oku returned from his break that he took in order to plot the series' "Final Phase", a.k.a. "Phase 3".

As of this summer, over 10 million copies of the Gantz manga have been sold. And I see no reason for sales to slow down, now that fans have not only a new "phase" to look forward to, but also a couple of movies.