Acclaimed Japanese anime series, Tiger & Bunny has been optioned to be adapted into an English-language, live-action production for the third time. The independent U.S. production company, SK Global has announced that it will develop the Bandai Namco-owned property into the new live-action superhero comedy, Variety is reporting.
The production company will partner with Bandai Namco Pictures to develop the live-action version of the beloved animated television show. M. Raven Metzner, who made a name for himself in part by writing such television series as Sleepy Hollow, Heroes Reborn and Iron Fist, will serve as a scribe and the showrunner on the new version of Tiger & Bunny.
The franchise features heroic crime fighters as they operate in Stern Bild, a fictionalized, near future version of New York City. The series debuted in 2011 as both a manga and anime show that played on late night television in Japan. The show was quickly followed by two movies and a stage play that debuted the year after the franchise’s launch.
SK Global describes the Tiger & Bunny franchise as “a heartfelt comedy-drama set in a futuristic city where large corporations sponsor professional superheroes, whose own valiant exploits are then broadcast on a popular reality television show. [The series’] story centers on old school veteran hero Tiger, who is compelled to partner with an overconfident rookie named Bunny.”
The live action show adaptation will be produced by SK Global. The project will be executive produced by Metzner and Ozaki Masayuki of Bandai Namco Pictures, who also served as a producer on the original anime series in Japan. The duo will be joined on the series by fellow executive producer, Filosophia CEO Fujimura Tetsu, who also served as an executive producer on Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell.
The upcoming live action version of Tiger & Bunny comes after it was previously in development in 2015 by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Productions. The deal also involved ANEW, a company that had backing from the Japanese public and private sectors, and was working to accelerate adapting Japanese IP into Hollywood productions.
However, ANEW later collapsed and was sold. As a result, Imagine’s option on the anime show was allowed to lapse.
A second attempt to adapt Tiger & Bunny was announced in May 2018. A deal with Donald Tang’s ill-fated China-U.S. venture Global Road Entertainment was announced, which brought Ellen Shanman on as the screenwriter.
However, Global Road, the company that was formed from the merger of sales, production and finance entity IM Global and U.S. distributor Open Road, collapsed a few months later, in August 2018. As a result, Tiger & Bunny‘s rights were once again reverted back to Bandai Namco.
As a result of the series’ new deal, Fujimura told Variety that “We see this as a strong property for English-language adaptation, in part because of the popularity and awareness that the show already enjoys outside Japan, and partly because of its unique concept.
“Both Imagine and Global Road planned to make feature film adaptations. But that was before streaming became so mainstream. Now, SK Global conceives it as a series,” Fujimura continued.
“Development is under way and it will be pitched to broadcasters and streamers. Netflix could be a candidate, of course, but at the moment nobody knows,” Fujimura added. He pointed to the fact that Netflix is currently enjoying success with the second season of the animated series, which began streaming this past April.