Ichi the Killer Director (Maybe) Making a Phoenix Wright Movie

[John Funk]

Ichi the Killer Director (Maybe) Making a Phoenix Wright Movie

Japanese director Takashi Miike, infamous for occasionally brutal and disturbing films, is setting his sights on adapting a courtroom-themed Nintendo DS game for the big screen.

There's no denying that Japan's Takashi Miike is a talented filmmaker, but he's also an "Imprint" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Miike], was never aired on Showtime, for instance).

Speaking with HuffPo's Karin Badt [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/cannes-2011-takashi-miike_b_865188.html] at the Cannes Film Festival, however, Miike said that his next project would be very different from his latest work, the Cannes-nominated Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. In contrast to his customarily violent work, Miike said that this next film would have very "little blood."

"It is a very light comedy that I am filming now, a court drama, based on a video game, the Nintendo game DS [sic]."

What game could that be? The most obvious - and most famous - answer would be Capcom's Gyakuten Saiban games, which saw release in the West as the Ace Attorney series. However, there is, in fact, another DS courtroom game - Namco's Yūzai x Muzai - it just isn't as well-known as Gyakuten Saiban.

As someone who absolutely loved the Phoenix Wright games, I'm positively giddy over the possibility of a film adaptation. If it turns out to be the other series, so be it, but the adventure-esque Ace Attorney games would make a perfect fit for a light-hearted court comedy (since, you know, that's what they are).

I just have two questions: If this is in fact a Gyakuten Saiban movie, will they keep the original music [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPJE4l6j-hg], and how the hell will they pull off Phoenix Wright's (er, Naruhodō Ryūichi's) hair?

(Twitch Film [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/cannes-2011-takashi-miike_b_865188.html])

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[mireko]

The more important question is this: Would it be as good as the Takarazuka version?

 

[Timbydude]

Ehhh...

Trust me, I loved the Ace Attorney games as much as anyone else. But the whole reason those games were fun was that you, the player, were unraveling the mysteries behind the cases in the middle of the courtroom. I'm just not sure how entertaining it would be to essentially watch someone else play the game for me.

 

[Spy_Guy]

At first I was all: "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Now I'm all: "HOLD IT!" >:O

Video game movies, generally disappointing. If they're made by live actors, doubly so.

So, my gut reaction was "Wheeeeee!", it has changed into a more "OBJECTION!"-esque feeling.

 

[The Wykydtron]

If it was done well, go for it. If it's shit you'll have AA fans Objection!ing all over the Internet (including myself)

I'd like to see how they'd pull off Godot's goggles, double points for including Klavier air guitaring at some point in the movie

I'll still be waiting for the anime adaptation...

[sub]A man can dream![/sub]

 

[Spy_Guy]

...the anime adaptation...

Yes please!

 

[Logic Sword]

The Layton movie managed to not make a complete hash of the series, so I'm going to try and be optimistic about this. Even if it's terrible, I know I'm going to buy it when it (hopefully) comes out over here.

I'd rather have Layton vs Wright or AAI 2 localised though

 

[teknoarcanist]

Anybody thinking Miike can't handle something light and genre-oriented hasn't seen Sukiyaki Western Django -- which (with the exception of an extended assault scene which is implied to lead to a rape) is extremely silly and an absolute blast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-TGaGa3QAc

 

[Diablo2000]

I'll still be waiting for the anime adaptation...

That... One million times that...

 

[Ubermetalhed]

All I can say is: prepare for lactation.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

Well, I don't think the "game-to-movie" adaptation problems won't be all that great, since Ace Attorney is more of a visual novel and each case's narrative can be easier translated to a passive medium than other games.

If it was done well, go for it. If it's shit you'll have AA fans Objection!ing all over the Internet (including myself)

I'd like to see how they'd pull off Godot's goggles, double points for including Klavier air guitaring at some point in the movie

I'll still be waiting for the anime adaptation...

[sub]A man can dream![/sub]

I think we'll mostly be seeing Edgeworth... But yeah, an anime/OVA adaptation would be awesome.

 

[legopelle]

Interesting. I have no immediate objections to this.

 

[allistairp]

If this is anything like The Happiness of the Katakuris (http://youtu.be/Vw5fWqmP6fY), it could be awesome.

 

[blackdwarf]

wont work, the best you can get is a decent movie. becuae he fun part of the game is figuring the case out. you can't present that in a movie on a compeling way. second: this can only work as a anime, because al those character would look silly if real actors would play him.

yeah i can be enjoying, but i will only be a decent court movie, the core gameplay cant be represented in a movie.

 

[PipPup]

I hope its as good as the Professor Layton Movie.

-Hey wait a minute... Professor Layton + Phoenix Wright + Movie =...

Hold on, I think I have to make a phone call.

 

[Sam G]

Why would you even wanna make a movie out o' these games...? Don't get me wrong, I think it could be pretty good, but... the games essentially already are movies, and if they made a film they'd probably just be retelling the plot of the game with near-identical dialogue and events...