Hitoshi Matsumoto's BIG MAN JAPAN (DAI NIPPONJIN) Up For Hollywood Remake
Despite having only three films to his credit - one of which is still pending release in his native Japan - hugely popular television comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto has already emerged as one of the brightest and most unique talents in Japan's film community. And when someone rises as quickly as Matsumoto has, no matter how odd their work may be, Hollywood is bound to notice. They have.
Columbia Pictures have purchased remake rights for Matsumoto's debut, Big Man Japan (Dai Nipponjin) with producer Neil Moritz (I Am Legend, The Green Hornet, Battle: Los Angeles) overseeing the project. Matsumoto's picture came at the beginning of the current wave of "real life" superhero films, the film presenting the story of a blue collar guy trying to pay his bills and maintain his family while living up to the legacy of being the latest in a long line of super sized monster battling heroes. Presented in moc-doc style it's a dryly hilarious picture jammed full of absurd little nuances that are going to prove very, very difficult to make work in any sort of Hollywood setting.
The plus side to this story is that Matsumoto himself will be involved in the adaptation, with Tokyograph reporting that he will have an 'advisory role' in any story changes. The down side is that the combination of Moritz and writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (The Clash Of The Titans) imply that Columbia will be going for the biggest, broadest version of the concept possible. In other words, taking just enough of the original that they need to buy rights to avoid being sued while otherwise making something thoroughly Hollywood that will have none of the personality of the original. Moritz is thoroughly, one hundred percent a part of the Hollywood machine - other credits include XXX, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Skulls, Urban Legends, Cruel Intentions,and the entire Fast And Furious series - whose resume tells you everything you need to know about what sort of audience he aims for. The big upside here is that the IMDB currently lists a whopping thirty seven other titles that Moritz has in development, a good number of which will certainly never get made due to simple lack of time and resources. Here's hoping this is one of those because Matsumoto is far too unique to survive this process intact.
Columbia Pictures have purchased remake rights for Matsumoto's debut, Big Man Japan (Dai Nipponjin) with producer Neil Moritz (I Am Legend, The Green Hornet, Battle: Los Angeles) overseeing the project. Matsumoto's picture came at the beginning of the current wave of "real life" superhero films, the film presenting the story of a blue collar guy trying to pay his bills and maintain his family while living up to the legacy of being the latest in a long line of super sized monster battling heroes. Presented in moc-doc style it's a dryly hilarious picture jammed full of absurd little nuances that are going to prove very, very difficult to make work in any sort of Hollywood setting.
The plus side to this story is that Matsumoto himself will be involved in the adaptation, with Tokyograph reporting that he will have an 'advisory role' in any story changes. The down side is that the combination of Moritz and writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (The Clash Of The Titans) imply that Columbia will be going for the biggest, broadest version of the concept possible. In other words, taking just enough of the original that they need to buy rights to avoid being sued while otherwise making something thoroughly Hollywood that will have none of the personality of the original. Moritz is thoroughly, one hundred percent a part of the Hollywood machine - other credits include XXX, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Skulls, Urban Legends, Cruel Intentions,and the entire Fast And Furious series - whose resume tells you everything you need to know about what sort of audience he aims for. The big upside here is that the IMDB currently lists a whopping thirty seven other titles that Moritz has in development, a good number of which will certainly never get made due to simple lack of time and resources. Here's hoping this is one of those because Matsumoto is far too unique to survive this process intact.
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