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Madhouse, Film Studio Nikkatsu to Open Joint US Office
posted on by Mikhail Koulikov
The animation company Madhouse (X, Metropolis, Paprika) will be working with Nikkatsu, Japan's oldest movie studio, to launch a joint office in the United States. Both companies will contribute capital and fold their current US-based employees into the new organization. The umbrella company Index Holdings owns both studios as subsidiaries. The purpose of this office, which will open in Los Angeles in January, will be to make it easier for Madhouse and Nikkatsu to market both studios' original films for distribution outside Japan. It will also bring them closer to potential partners for developing both animated and live-action co-productions.
Recently, Madhouse produced Highlander: The Search for Vengeance video based on the Highlander fantasy movies, and it is currently working on two other big-budget animated adaptations of Western properties. Another Madhouse project that is currently in the works is Yona Yona Penguin, a 3D animated feature that is being directed by Rintarō with funding from France's Denis Friedman Productions. Nikkatsu's next major project is a Takashi Miike-directed live-action adaptation of the Seventies science-fiction comedy anime series Yatterman.
Source: Variety
