Bleach Brightens Manga's Multiplex Prospects

Comic-book movies are the gold standard and studios did pretty well out of westernizing J-horror. So could a combination of the two -- multiplex manga movies -- be a new license to print money? DreamWorks is still shaping their live-action 3-D remake of Ghost In The Shell and now Warner Bros. -- who're already developing a two-part live-action adaptation of 1988 landmark Akira with The Hughes Brothers -- are reportedly adding Bleach to their slate.

For those not in the know (I wasn't), it's about a boy who accidentally gets lumped with the powers of a Soul Reaper and has to defend puny humanity against myriad evil spirits. Sounds FX-y. And super 3-D-able. The existing domestic and foreign audience for such films -- Bleach is a long-standing manga hit in Japan and has been turned into a successful TV anime that's made it to the US on Adult Swim -- adds to the ka-ching factor. The man to produce the live-action version? Peter Segal, best known as director of 50 First Dates, Get Smart and Anger Management. Seems odd at first but he's also set to get his fanboy on as director of Shazam. [Via The Hollywood Reporter]