The Hollywood Reporter magazine reports on Thursday that the American cable television network Starz is developing a live-action remake of the 2001 television anime series Noir. In the original anime, two female assassins come together to work on missions while they uncover their past and their connection with each other.
Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker) and Rob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker) are executive producers for the project, while Stephen Lightfoot (Criminal Justice, House of Saddam) is serving as both the writer and an executive producer.
Screenwriter Ryoe Tsukimura (El Hazard - The Magnificent World, Shrine of the Morning Mist, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie) created the original concept for the anime, and Bee Train studio co-founder Koichi Mashimo directed the project. ADV Films released the anime in North America before the distributor shut down in 2009. FUNimation Entertainment confirmed just last week that it acquired the North American rights to the anime, and it plans to release the anime next year.
The American cable television network Starz has green-lit a live-action remake of the 2001 television anime series Noir for a series order. Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker) and Rob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker) have been developing the project as executive producers since at least last year.
In the original anime, two female assassins come together to work on missions while they uncover their past and their connection with each other.
Screenwriter Ryoe Tsukimura (El Hazard - The Magnificent World, Shrine of the Morning Mist, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie) created the original concept for the anime, and Bee Train studio co-founder Koichi Mashimo directed the project. ADV Films released the anime in North America before the distributor shut down in 2009. Funimation Entertainment confirmed last year that it acquired the North American rights to the anime..
The other executive producers on the live-action project include writer Steven Lightfoot, Joshua Donen and Bill Hamm.
Chris Albrecht, president and CEO of the American television and video service Starz LLC, confirmed on Tuesday that the American live-action adaptation of Noir is scheduled to air next summer of 2012. The project was approved in June and is currently in the pre-production phase of its development cycle.
The original 2001 anime featured two female assassins working together on missions while they uncover their past and their connection with each other. ADV Films released the anime in North America before the distributor shut down in 2009. FUNimation Entertainment confirmed last year that it acquired the North American rights to the anime.
Edited by: TheCoffeeGod at October 20, 2011, 08:51pm
The actors resource website Showfax Inc. has posted a character sheet for Starz's live-action Noir television adaptation. The descriptions in the sheet offer insight into changes made for the television production as well as new character introductions.
The character sheet describes the show taking place in 1960s Paris, with lead assassin Mireille Dubois (changed from the original Mireille Bouquet) as a 26- to 28-year-old blonde, controlling, female assassin. Kirika is listed as an 18- to 20-year-old Japanese girl who develops amnesia after a fight with Mireille, no longer remembering her training with handler Lance or The Soldats.
The sheet lists The Soldats organization as a "regime [that] is based on the Assassins cult of Islam."
New characters include Smith, an American CIA agent working to gain trust with the KGB as a connection to Mireille. Mireille is also given a fiancé, John Lancaster, an American and a Korean War veteran. The sheet also lists the character of Alice, a model who is John's drug-using ex-girlfriend. The sheet also fleshes out the minor character Yann from the original series.
Paul Weber is casting the series, which begins filming in New Zealand this month.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht confirmed earlier this week that the Noir TV series will premiere next summer. Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker) and Rob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker) are executive producers for the project, while Stephen Lightfoot (Criminal Justice, House of Saddam) is serving as both the writer and an executive producer.
ADV Films released the anime in North America before the distributor shut down in 2009. FUNimation Entertainment confirmed last year that it acquired the North American rights to the anime.
Edited by: TheCoffeeGod
at October 20, 2011, 08:52pm
The entertainment news website Deadline reported on Thursday that Sean Jablonski has replaced Steven Lightfoot as the showrunner of the live-action television adaptation of the Noir anime. (The showrunner, as the Writers Guild of America puts it, is "in charge of pre-production, production, and post-production. In other words, everything.") Lightfoot was the showrunner for the first season of USA Network's Suits series, and he started writing on the FX series Nip/Tuck before becoming the executive producer for that show also.
Lightfoot (Criminal Justice, House of Saddam), who had written the script for the live-action Noir project that got it green-lit, is no longer with the project.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht confirmed in August that the live-action Noir series will premiere on his company's television network next summer. That same month, the actors resource website Showfax Inc. posted a character sheet for the project. Executive producers Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker), Bob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker), Joshua Donen, and Bill Hamm remain with the project.
Edited by: TheCoffeeGod
at October 20, 2011, 08:52pm
Chris Albrecht, president and CEO of the American television and video service Starz LLC, stated in a Monday interview with cable television news site Multichannel News that the live-action Noir television series, previously slated for a summer 2012 release, has been put on hold. According to Albrecht, "production challenges on [the series] just became sort of enormous, so we've hit the pause button on that," and that the production team has shifted to working on the Spartacus TV series, putting the adaptation of the 2001 Bee Train anime in "a bit of a holding pattern."
The original 2001 anime featured two female assassins working together on missions while they uncover their past and their connection with each other. ADV Films released the anime in North America before the distributor shut down in 2009. FUNimation Entertainment confirmed last year that it acquired the North American rights to the anime.
The entertainment news website Deadline reported on Thursday that Sleeper Cell creators Cyris Voris and Ethan Reiff are now signed on to write the live-action television adaptation of the Noir anime. The Sleeper Cell series had aired on the Showtime network in 2005.
The original writer of the series, Steven Lightfoot, was replaced by Sean Jablonski in October 2011. At that time, Deadline had reported that Jablonski would act as the showrunner of the series. (The showrunner, as the Writers Guild of America puts it, is "in charge of pre-production, production, and post-production. In other words, everything.") Deadline does not mention if either Voris or Reiff will act as showrunner for the Noir series now.
The Noir live-action television adaptation was green-lit for the Starz television network last June. A year ago, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht had said that the show would air in summer 2012. According to Deadline, the project was put on hold after Jablonski replaced Lightfoot, but Deadline notes that the project "has already incurred some production costs, including building sets."
Executive producers Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker), Bob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker), Joshua Donen, and Bill Hamm remain with the project.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht revealed at press tour earlier this month that creative differences over the Noir live-action adaptation has the series at a standstill.
"We just can't get [Noir] creatively to a place where everybody feels good about it," Albrecht said. "I would never say that there is no chance, but it's a little more frustrating as time goes on."
The Noir live-action television adaptation was green-lit for the Starz television network in June 2011. Two months later, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht had said that the show would air in summer 2012. The project was put on hold after writer Sean Jablonski replaced Steven Lightfoot, but the entertainment news website Deadline noted that the project had already incurred some production costs, including building sets.
Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Priest, Legend of the Seeker), Bob Tapert (The Evil Dead, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Xena, Legend of the Seeker), Joshua Donen, and Bill Hamm were executive producers with the project. Sleeper Cell creators Cyris Voris and Ethan Reiff were rewriting the script by Jablonski.
Deadline reported last month that Voris and Reiff are currently working on another project, cable station TNT's series Legends.
