The hit book and TV series Densha Otoko (Train Man) is getting a Hollywood adaptation.
According to Japan Today and Deadline, This will be the first Hollywood remake for Fuji TV, which produced the original television series, sold the rights to Hollywood.
Adam Shankman of Hairspray and Step Up fame is directing, while Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and Emmy-winner scribe Tucker Cawley will be writing the script.
“Safe to say, with this unique source material and these incredible talents, Train Man is going to be unlike anything else out there,” said Mark Stern, President of Scripted Content for Global Road Television. “We’re honored to be the studio for such an auspicious project.”
The original Japanese TV series told the story of a shy, geeky otaku who helps a woman on the train fend of a drunk and, with the encouragement of an online bulletin board, does his best to woo her. The story first appeared on 2ch and was later adapted into a book, a feature film and a TV series.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with this fantastic team,” said Shankman. “Phil and Tucker have created some of the most hilarious and heartfelt work on television, and I cannot wait to work together on this project that so speaks to our collective hopes, dreams, successes and failures. The concept of Train Man, his public and private faces, his fears and foibles, is so ripe for serialization and musicalization. This unique and massively popular world is fertile ground for original storytelling.”