Koei Announces Joint Video PlayStation 3/Movie Project

Officials from Japanese publisher and developer Koei have announced a collaboration with movie production houses Shibusawa Production and Kurosawa Production, to release a film based on a script by the late Akira Kurosawa, director of classics such as The Seven Samurai and Ikiru. The film, currently titled Oni (meaning ogre or demon), centers on a blonde-haired samurai in 16th-centry Japan. The partial script has been completed by Akira Kurosawa’s son Hisao and game producer Kou Shibusawa, for a projected 2006 release. Koei, makers of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series, will also make a video game adaptation of the film, for a simultaneous release on the PlayStation 3. The company is also developing other media, such as cellular phone content, character merchandise, music, portraits, books, in anticipation of the film’s release. The project – including film production and video game development – has a total production budget of ¥3 billion ($28.2m). Revenues are projected to be ¥10 billion ($94.1m) world-wide. The Kurosawa estate recently completed another venture into the world of video games with the Japanese release of Sammy's not so well-received PlayStation 2 action title Seven Samurai 20XX, also co-developed by Hisao Kurosawa.