2 live-action “Gantz” movies coming in 2011

By kevin on October 08, 2009 at 4:34am EDT

Director Shinsuke Sato is set to start working on the first of two live-action Gantz films based on Hiroya Oku’s manga sometime next month. The two lead roles will be played by Kazunari Ninomiya of the pop group Arashi and actor Kenichi Matsuyama. Their character’s ages (originally in their teens) will be adjusted appropriately in this adaptation.

The original manga has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine since 2000 and is about to enter its “Final Phase”. The story revolves around two college students named Kei Kurono (Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Matsuyama). Both of them die in a train accident, but are brought back to life by a mysterious entity known as “Gantz”. They’re subsequently fitted with enhancement suits, equipped with advanced weaponry, and sent on a variety of dangerous alien assassination missions in which their own lives are expendable. The goal is the earn enough “points” through missions to win their freedom, but various unforeseen incidents along the way complicate matters.

The first film is tentatively slated for nation-wide release in early 2011 and the second will follow in the spring.

Sources: ANN, Tokyograph