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Lupin III Coming to Hollywood
Secret anime ninja writes "A story in today's Toronto Star says, "Master thief Lupin the Third, a comic book hero in Japan for more than 30 years, will soon make his Hollywood debut." The story goes on to say that it's been optioned by the producer of Minority Report, Schindler's List and Jurassic Park." Lupin III is currently airing on Cartoon Network and several Lupin movies are available on DVD. Castle of Cagliostro, directed by Miyazaki is a great movie.
Imagine the A-Team, with incredibly skinny legs, and instead of helping people out, they try to rip people off. Oh, and a hot chick that is a backstabbing bitch, and also the only character with normal looking legs.
However, it's being renamed Lupin to accommodate the foolish americans who haven't seen Lupins I or II
Thanks to Cartoon Network, I've been able to finally see the Lupin III TV series. Despite it's dated nature and the modernization of the dub script (tons of modern refferences), I find the show enjoyable, and watch it damn near religiously.
But a live action Lupin movie? And from Hollywood, no less? Has anyone here seen G-Savior?
I think that, because it's Lupin, I'll hold on to a little hope that the fruitcakes in Hollywood won't mangle it, but I'm afraid that my hope is misplaced. They might try a live action "Cogliostro," which wouldn't be bad, but would probably insult the greatness that is Haiyo Miazaki (just like I'll bet they'll snub him at the Oscars).
Another sad option is that they'll try to turn this whole thing into another "Hudson Hawk." They could try to turn it into an action flick (almost making Jigen and Goemon the stars as opposed to Lupin), but then they'd offer the part to not-so-awesome "action stars" like Vin "I Look Good Standing Next To Hot Cars" Diesel or Duane "The Rock" Johnson.
If Hollywood were smart, they'd drop the idea entirely. But they're not smart, they're money hungry, so they'll jump all over it and turn it into overproduced fluff. Still, I have hope that somehow, someway, by some wild twist of fate, Hollywood can overcome it's current stigma and actually make a good flick based on an excellent Anime...
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
If you want to know more about the original Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar, and the author, Maurice Leblanc: here and there
Lupin III is interesting because it really doesn't need to be a cartoon. Meaning, the effects taken aren't that outlandish (ala, Scooby Doo, or Dragonball Z). In fact, Lupin III could have been a very interesting live action piece from the very beginning as far as I can tell. The main reason to go animated over live action is that you can afford a lot more animated explosions and flying planes and exotic places internationally with drawings and ink then you could with a real set.
I think the comparison with 007 is really valid in this case. Whenever I watch Lupin III, it feels really similar to watching 007, if he had a set of good friends he hung out with, and he was a master gentleman thief.
Having said all that, I won't be seeing this movie, as interesting as it might be. A tight budget means entertainment tends to get cut first.
Lupin the 3rd is basically a story about the exploits of four legendary thieves and an Interpol investigator who's constantly on their trail. They seem to try to rob and rip people off more for the challenge of it then for the actual money (though, they do seem to enjoy the money as well). Central to Lupin's character is that he doesn't seem to be a killer, just an unorthodox thief.
Lupin (pronounced Loop-ON, I believe) is the grandson of a legendary criminal, and has taken on his legacy of performing impossible crimes under the very nose of authorities many times. His main ability seems to be his quick wit and extreme intelligence when it comes to stealing things. He (as well as the rest of the crew) is a fairly good master of disguise.
Jigan is a guy who tends to wear a suit and a dark hat, drinks an awful lot, and is a damn good shot with a revolver. He's generally a rather pragmatic figure who tends to just like hanging out with Lupin, because Lupin's an interesting guy.
Goemon is a legendary swordsman (a kind of stereotypical samurai), who also enjoys just hanging out with Lupin and Jigan. Of all the characters, he is probably the most outlandish, performing rather impossible feats with his sword. However, it would not be difficult to mute this down to reality's level.
Fujiko (not positive on the spelling of these names by the way) is who Lupin is particularly smitten with. She has rather um...large breasts (sorry, there's really little else to say, since they're kind of central to her character). Of the 4 criminal characters, she is probably the most in it for money. She is probably the best at disgusing herself, and will often backstab multiple people just to get more money for herself. She often attempts to pull one over on the other main characters to enrich herself. Jigan and Goemon aren't too fond of her, but put up with her because of Lupin.
Zenigata is the Interpol inspector who has gotten pretty good at figuring out where and how Lupin works, but he has some behavioral problems so the local authorities tend to not believe him or comply with him fully when he makes requests. As such, he's usually there to witness Lupin's hijinks, but he never seems to catch him. Also referred to as "Pops."
That's the basics of it. Its a pretty fun, though simple show.