News

1st Two 20th Century Boys Films to Run in Philadelphia

The first two films in the live-action trilogy adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys suspense manga will be screened during the Cinefest 2009 film festival in Philadelphia. The festival will run from March 26 to April 6. The first film had its world premiere in France last year, and went on to be Japan's seventh top-grossing domestic movie of 2008. Its American premiere took place in January at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The follow-up film, which is entitled 20-Seiki Shōnen Dai-2-Shō: Saigo no Kibō (Twentieth Century Boys Part II: The Last Hope), just opened as the #1 movie in Japan on January 31.

The three films have a combined budget of over six billion yen (about US$55 million). Although Viz Media is publishing the original manga in North America, no American DVD release plans for either of the films have been announced yet. On the other hand, distribution rights have already been sold in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.

Source: About.com

Image © 1999, 2006 Naoki Urasawa Studio Nuts/Shogakukan
© 2009 20th Century Boys Production Committee