-- L U P I N III --
[Source: AnimeNewsNetwork] The first official character visuals from the new live-action film of Monkey Punch's Lupin III manga debuted on Wednesday. It stars (from left to right) Tadanobu Asano as Detective Kōichi Zenigata, Gou Ayano as Goemon Ishikawa, Shun Oguri as Lupin, Tetsuji Tamayama as Daisuke Jigen, and Meisa Kuroki as Fujiko Mine.
The photoshoot caused even Monkey Punch to remark, "Looks good. This is going to be quite a movie." Notably, Oguri is wearing the red velvet jacket and yellow necktie of the second television anime series. He underwent 10 months of action training with sticks and lost eight kilograms (about 18 pounds) for the role. Oguri wields Lupin III's favorite Walter P38, while Tamayama bears the familiar Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat Magnum as Jigen. Kuroki performed her own wire action stunts as Fujiko.
The first live-action adaptation of Lupin III in four decades will open on August 30. It will tell an original story while being faithful to the original work. Lupin III and his gang will infiltrate the high security of the Ark of Navarone, a gigantic fortress-like safe, to lay claim to the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra within. It is said that whoever possesses this treasure shall "unite the world."
The movie began filming on October 3 and finished principal photography on December 26. The production shot in Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. It is now in the middle of the final steps of editing, and the staff aims to complete post production and the film itself at the end of June. Ryuhei Kitamura (Azumi) is directing the film, and Mataichirō Yamamoto wrote the script.
Take Yoshida, a writer and a friend of director Kitamura, had told the website zakzak that the director intends to change the setting to make the characters modern. Yūki Meguro played Lupin in the first live-action film, 1974's Lupin III: Strange Psycho-Kinetic Strategy.
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