Warner Bros. have added another manga adaptation to their list of developing projects. We reported a few weeks ago that the Hughes Brothers are attached to the live-action Akira project, now we have word from THR that they are working on an adaptation of Tite Kubo‘s Bleach.
The original story follows “a 15-year-old boy who has the ability to see ghosts and meets a female Soul Reaper, a member of an order that escorts the souls of the dead. A fight with an evil spirit causes the Reaper to transfer all her power to the boy, leaving her stranded in the human world and the boy taking over her job as a fighter of evil.”
Get Smart and 50 First Dates directors Peter Segal is in talks to produce the film with Viz Media, the publisher who distributes the manga books in English.
The 29-volume series started in Japan in 2001 and has since become an anime TV series in Japan as well as the Cartoon Network in the US.
There are already three feature films and a fourth planned for late 2010, being released in Japan. All the animations follow an original story, one not from the mangas. It’s not said whether a US remake will follow one of these or head down a new path. I’ve never really watched much anime or read manga but the premise seems like it would fit a film nicely, especially at Warner Bros. Hopefully Segal can provide a dark edge, not found in his previous work.
Do you like Bleach? Do you want to see a US adaptation?