GANTZ goes Live Action

Several Japanese media outlet is reporting that Hiroya Oku's bestselling sci-fi action manga Gantz is getting adapted into a two-part live action films.  Helming the project is director Shinsuke Sato (The Princess Blade, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror) and the main lead roles goes to Kazunari Ninomiya (Tekkon Kinkreet, Letters from Iwo Jima) of the Arashi musical group and Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City, The Legend of Kamui).  The CG effects will be provided by Digital Frontier, the same company that worked on the Death Note live action films. 

The story follows a young Tokyo college student who is reanimated after a deadly subway accident. Kei Kurono (Ninomiya) and his friend Masaru Kato (Matsuyama) go on violent, seemingly endless missions at the behest of an unseen host.

Principal photography is set to begin in November and is slated to end next April. The first part will tentatively open in the winter of 2011 while the second part will follow in the spring.