Overlord director Julius Avery reportedly signs on to direct Sony's planned English-Speaking adaptation of Hiroya Oku's Gantz manga series.
Avery will work from a script adapted by Marc Guggenheim, according to Deadline. Temple Hill has also agreed to produce the project, which will mark Sony's second adaptation of a Japanese comic series following the recently-wrapped Bullet Train.
Written and illustrated by Oku, Gantz follows high school students Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who both die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous "game" alongside other deceased people, in which they are forced to hunt down and kill aliens armed with a variety of futuristic items and weaponry.
Gantz was originally serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from June 2000 to June 2013. Its chapters were later collected in 37 tankōbon volumes. An anime television adaptation of the series, directed by Ichiro Itano and animated by Gonzo, was also broadcast for 26 episodes across two seasons in 2004, while a CGI anime film adaptation called Gantz: O was released in 2016.
News about Sony's upcoming Gantz adaptation comes roughly a month after Oku told Crunchyroll an existing contract with an unnamed Hollywood production company was preventing future anime adaptations of his work from being made. "That's the Hollywood type of contract; they own all the adaptations including anime and live-action, except for manga," Oku said at the time. "There is another spinoff called Gantz: E that is currently being serialized in Young Jump (illustrated by Jin Kagetsu) right now, which has been allowed to be made by the producers [as it's a manga], though an anime adaptation of that spinoff won't be. It's becoming such a pain, to be honest."
Oku also revealed in the interview that the existing contract will likely hold up future Gantz projects for at least the next four years, explaining, "It's likely COVID-19 has paused a lot of new projects over there, and Gantz is probably one of them. If that's the case, I'd like to have the rights back."
Oku's most recent serialized manga series, Gigant, wrapped back in September. Inspired by Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Gigant manga followed a pornographic actress named Chiho "Papico" Johansson who gained the ability to grow into a giant. All chapters of Gigant were released in August 2021 as nine tankōbon volumes.
It's unclear at this time when Gantz will reveal its cast. In the meantime, directed by David Leitch, Bullet Train stars Brad Pitt, Michael Shannon, Joey King, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Sandra Bullock. The film is currently scheduled to premiere on April 8, 2022.
Source: Deadline
