80s cyberpunk anime series Bubblegum Crisis is set to become a 3D live-action movie…
Unless you're seriously into 80s anime, you may not have heard of Bubblegum Crisis. Starting as an OAV (Original Animation Video) series in 1987, Bubblegum Crisis could be best described as an animated take on the future-noir of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.
Set in a 2033 Tokyo torn in two by an earthquake, the anime introduced the Knight Sabers, a quartet of female mercenaries, and related their ongoing battle against the GENOM Corporation and their army of robots called Boomers.
Best remembered for its distinctive, slinky character designs by Kenichi Sonoda, Bubblegum Crisis spawned several spin-offs (including Bubblegum Crash), tie-in videogames and a Dark Horse comic series courtesy of writer/artist Adam Warren.
According to Bleeding Cool, a 3D live-action adaptation of Bubblegum Crisis is in the works, with Anthony LaMolinara in the director's chair. LaMolinara is best known for his animation effects work on the first two Spider-Man movies, and Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man.
Set to commence shooting next year, the film, called Bubblegum Crisis: Knight Sabers, is a (deep breath) Canadian-Chinese-English-Australian-Japanese co-production. The visual effects will be handled by Canada's Mokko Studios (who worked on X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Darren Aronofsky's divisive The Fountain), so it should certainly look the part.
No word yet as to who will play the Knight Sabers themselves, but with shooting expected to begin next May, we should have some casting news very soon.
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