One of Japan's most famous directors, Takashi Miike recently revealed that he's working on a film version of a popular DS game. The game is believed to be a film version of Ace Attorney (these might be the first set pics). Miike isn't a stranger to video games or video game movies. He's made a couple before.
In the West, Miike first made a big splash with his 2001 flick Audition, and his hard-edged films have found Western audiences ever since. Miike is an incredibly prolific filmmaker—he's made over 70 films since 1991. Not all seventy films are good. He's made a lot of crap! But he's also make many truly interesting films.
Whenever he starts a new project, you don't know if you're going to get the guy who churned out brilliance like Ichi the Killer or the guy who made the soul-crushing Yatterman movie.
WORKHORSE - Besides directing films, Miike also directs TV dramas, commercials and stage plays.
The Osaka-born Miike views filmmaking like a job, instead of merely a creative endeavor that's to be done whenever the mood suits. He's closer to someone like Woody Allen, who is constantly making movies, than to someone like, Stanley Kubrick, who's films were events. (This isn't to pass judgment on either Allen or Kubrick—this is merely an observation on working methods.)
There's no doubt, Miike is making a game film. But it's not his first game flick. His Dead or Alive series are totally unrelated to the Tecmo fighting games, but he did make a 40 minute film version of Sega's Yakuza. It's a prequel, and it was released way back in 2006. In 2007, Miike made a full theatrical feature version of Yakuza. It was decent—a faithful, if not muddled and somewhat tame, movie version of Sega's crime saga.
Miike is comfortable with violence, and also without it. He's described his upcoming project as a light comedy, which in no way spells doom. Just don't go expecting Ichi the Killer.
Check out the gallery of Miike's highlights. Note: there's gore and at least two pairs of boobs.
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(Top photo | TimeWarp)
Shinjuku Triad Society
Fudoh: The New Generation
Full Metal Yakuza
The Bird People in China
Andromedia
Audition
Ley Lines
Dead or Alive triology
Ichi the Killer
The Happiness of the Katakuris
One Missed Call
Zebraman
Yakuza
The Great Yokai War
Sukiyaki Western Django
Yatterman
13 Assassins
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai