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Kill Bill's Tomoyasu Hotei Performs Live-Action Lupin III's Theme Song
posted on by Egan Loo
Tomoyasu Hotei, the singer and guitarist who gained a new wave of international fans with Kill Bill's use of his "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" song, is performing the theme song for this August's live-action Lupin the Third film. Hotei created "Trick Attack -Theme of Lupin the Third," an instrumental piece lasting just under four minutes, specifically for the film.
Yuji Ohno created the iconic "Theme from Lupin III" song for the earlier anime based on Monkey Punch's manga, but the live-action film is not using that song "due to various reasons." Instead, Hotei wrote and performed what he described as a "bold, fast-tempo" song that opens with an impactful guitar riff. He hopes people will look forward to the song.
The song's mix engineer is Steve Lipson, who also produced, programmed, and mixed the soundtracks of The Dark Knight Rising and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Hotei himself contributed the main theme songs to SF Samurai Fiction, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (the original film for which Hotei performed "Battle Without Honor or Humanity"), Red Shadow, and KT.
"Trick Attack -Theme of Lupin the Third" will play during a climactic scene in the movie. The song will first debut in the film's full trailer, which will start playing in theaters this Saturday.
The film will follow Lupin and his partners in crime before they became a gang. They 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 stars (from left to right in the images below) Tadanobu Asano as Detective Kōichi Zenigata, Gō Ayano as Goemon Ishikawa, Shun Oguri as Lupin, Tetsuji Tamayama as Daisuke Jigen, and Meisa Kuroki as Fujiko Mine. An original character, Lupin's nemesis Michael Lee, will be played by Jerry Yan (Meteor Garden) of the popular Taiwanese group F4. Other cast members include South Korean actor Kim Joon (South Korean Hana Yori Dango) and Thai actor Thanayong Wongtrakul (The Man from Nowhere).
The first live-action adaptation of Lupin III in four decades will open on August 30. 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.
The film 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.
Source: Oricon
Image © 2014 Monkey Punch/Lupin
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