How to spot an anime or manga nerd: tell them Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is getting a live-action adaptation and see what happens. My closest access to the world of speed lines and exaggeration couldn’t place the name, but at least knew the image I posted above. That’s good, because I chose it randomly. I have no idea what Jojo is, other than it is getting a long-awaited live-action treatment through some serious movie heavyweights.
As Wikipedia lays it out, “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tells the story of the Joestar family, a family whose various members discover they are destined to take down supernatural foes using unique powers that they possess”. The JoJo title is pretty serious business and a manga franchise heavyweight. Going since 1986, it’s had loads of comics, several animated shows, movies, video games, fast food brands, jewelry – what appears to be the usual frenzy when a Japanese comic goes nuclear. No puns intended, though if anyone can lay claim to things going nuclear, it’s the Japanese.
After 30 years a live action film is finally forthcoming, directed by another Japanese institution, Takashi Miike. Best known for his shock movies like Audition and Ichii the Killer, Miike’s actually done it all, including kids movies. This is far from his first manga live action adaptation. Equally eyebrow-raising is that Toho and Warner Bros are co-creating this. It may be a deal similar to 2014’s Godzilla, though WB is also the US distributor for the Jojo animated series. So we can draw several conclusions from that.
But their joint involvement, combined with Miike’s pedigree, weighed against the seemingly huge worth of the Jojo brand, makes this worth keeping an eye on even if you are curious about the machinations of the movie making industry.
Last Updated: September 30, 2016
