With apologies to Erik Jansen and The Onion…
VIZ Pictures just announced that they’ve acquired the distribution rights to the two live-action Death Note films:
VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced that it has licensed from Nippon Television (NTV) the North American theatrical and DVD distribution rights to the live-action feature film Death Note and its sequel, Death Note: The Last Name, based on the Death Note anime and manga series…
VIZ Pictures will open Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name in a series of special screenings at Austin’s Fantastic Fest 2007, September 20-27, and at the 2007 Vancouver Asian Film Festival, November 1-4. Theater information follows at the end of this release and future screenings will continue throughout 2008. VIZ Pictures also plans to release Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name on DVD in the summer of 2008…
Death Note is based on the hit supernatural action mystery manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The live-action film, directed by Shusuke Kaneko, known as a director of popular monster film Gamera series, was released in 2006 and mirrors the manga’s story… The film’s sequel, Death Note: The Last Name, was a hit in Japan, staying #1 for four straight weeks. While it closely followed major plot elements from the original manga series, several new key story differences were also introduced. Both films star Takeshi Kaga, who is widely known by North American audiences as the flamboyant host of TV’s Iron Chef.
Erin F., our own fujoshi-in-residence, caught both flicks at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival; you can read her take on live Death Note by clicking here. Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name will be showing at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX (Sept. 20-27th; click here for screen times and tickets) and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in Vancouver, BC (Nov. 1-4th; click here for screen times and tickets). N.B. Only the first film will be shown in Vancouver.
Shinigami, evil teenagers with perfect hair, killer notebooks, and Chairman Kaga… now that’s some classy entertainment! No word on what the theme ingredient is for either film.
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