FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK INC.’S WILDLY POPULAR ‘TRAIN MAN’ EN ROUTE TO U.S. WITH MUSICAL ADAPTATION FROM EMMY® WINNERS PHIL ROSENTHAL AND TUCKER CAWLEY

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Emmy Award® Nominee Adam Shankman Onboard To Exec Produce and Direct Adaptation of Japanese Series from Global Road Television, Vertigo Entertainment, Fuji TV and Amuse Group USA

Cannes, October 16, 2018 – “Train Man,” a true story that became a Japanese phenomenon, will be adapted into a half-hour musical series by award-winning writer/showrunners Phil Rosenthal (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) and Tucker Cawley (“Everybody Loves Raymond”, “The Odd Couple”) and will be directed by Emmy® nominee Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”, “Step Up”). The announcement, marking the first Hollywood remake in Fuji Television’s 50-year history, was made today at MIPCOM 2018 by executives from Fuji Television, Vertigo Entertainment, Amuse Group USA and Global Road Television. Global Road Television will serve as the Studio and International distributor.

“Train Man” (known as “Densha Otoko” in Japan), inspired by the internationally renowned franchise of the same name, tells the profoundly relatable story of a shy, nerdy young man who, with encouragement from members of his online comic book chat group, attempts to overcome his reclusiveness and insecurity in order to start a relationship with a young woman. Based on a true story, this tale of life altering love began in 2004 as a series of almost 30,000 posts on a Japanese bulletin board with each chapter detailing a separate mission that Train Man needed to complete in order to further his romance. What started as a young man asking for dating advice, became an inherent part of pop culture vernacular, spurring a novel, a manga, a feature film and a hugely successful television series. Executive producers along with Rosenthal, Cawley and Shankman are Roy Lee (“The Departed”, “The Ring”), Vertigo Entertainment’s Michael Connolly, Offspring Entertainment’s Jennifer Gibgot, Tatsuro Hatanaka from Amuse USA and Fuji TV’s Satoshi Kubota.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with this fantastic team,” Shankman said. “Phil and Tucker have created some of the most hilarious and heartfelt work on television, and I cannot wait to work together on this project that so speaks to our collective hopes, dreams, successes and failures. The concept of ‘Train Man,’ his public and private faces, his fears and foibles, is so ripe for serialization and musicalization. This unique and massively popular world is fertile ground for original storytelling.”

Toru Ota, Fuji Television’s Senior Executive Managing Director, said: “No words can express how thrilled I am that the Hollywood remake of our megahit drama, Train Man has begun. Train Man may have depicted our otaku, or anime nerd, in a comical way but audiences found him authentic and embraced him. I look forward to seeing how this true story, based on actual events that occurred in the early days of Japan’s Internet age, will be transformed to appeal to today’s digital society.”

Tatsuro Hatana, President of Amuse USA, added: “We are extremely honored to share this exciting Japanese property with a global audience.”

Mark Stern, President of Scripted Content for Global Road Television said: “Safe to say, with this unique source material and these incredible talents, Train Man is going to be unlike anything else out there.  We’re honored to be the studio for such an auspicious project.”

ABOUT GLOBAL ROAD TELEVISION

Global Road Television is a full-service studio that develops, finances, produces and distributes high-quality scripted television for the domestic and international market. The company has teamed with some of the industry’s top talent on over two dozen projects, including an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s CAT’S CRADLE with Noah Hawley at FX, AMERICAN PRINCESS from executive producer Jenji Kohan at Lifetime, KILROY COUNTY with Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor at Showtime, MUSCLE SHOALS with EP Johnny Depp at ABC, and JETT starring Carla Gugino with writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez at Cinemax.

ABOUT VERTIGO ENTERTAINMENT

Vertigo Entertainment is a film and television production company founded by Roy Lee. The company has produced features spanning a broad spectrum of budgets and genres, from HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, to genre films such as THE RING, and THE GRUDGE, to the Oscar Winning THE DEPARTED. The company’s most recent work includes Stephen King’s IT, the hit animated features, THE LEGO MOVIE, LEGO BATMAN, NINJAGO, and the forthcoming THE LEGO MOVIE 2.

In addition to the feature side, in television Vertigo most recently secured a two-season guaranteed order at Amazon for the anthology series, THEM, as well as CROCKETT for Hulu, and the Lego spin-off, for Cartoon Network. They are currently in production on AMC’s, THE SON and produced THE EXORCIST for FOX and BATES MOTEL for A&E.

ABOUT OFFSPRING ENTERTAINMENT

Offspring Entertainment is the production company of brother and sister team Director/Producer Adam Shankman and Producer Jennifer Gibgot. Together, they have produced super successful films such as HAIRSPRAY, THE LAST SONG, 17 AGAIN, and the STEP UP franchise. Gibgot got her start as a producer at Tapestry Films where she produced romantic comedy favorites THE WEDDING PLANNER and SHE’S ALL THAT. Shankman got his start as a dancer and choreographer, teaching movie stars how to dance. He has since directed blockbuster hits BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, BEDTIME STORIES, THE PACIFIER, A WALK TO REMEMBER, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2, HAIRSPRAY and ROCK OF AGES. Shankman is currently working with Disney and star Amy Adams on the sequel to ENCHANTED, and in post production on WHAT MEN WANT for Paramount Players.

Offspring Entertainment is also in post-production on the screen adaptation of Anna Todd’s best-selling novel AFTER. Offspring is working with New Line on Misty Copeland’s biopic, based on her memoir LIFE IN MOTION, and working with the UFC on a feature film set inside the world of its championship fights.

Gibgot and Shankman are involved with raising and donating funds to many charities, including The Vision for Tomorrow Foundation, Feeding America, The Dizzyfeet Foundation, GLAAD, the Trevor Project, The Point Foundation, and more. In addition to a number of film projects currently in development, Offspring Entertainment has developed pilots for HBO (OPEN CITY), NBC (LOVE, SEX, NEIGHBORS), FOX (MARSHA GOES TO JAIL), ABC (VAMP), MTV (TURF), and two pilots for E! (STARSTRUCK, EVE). Offspring has also developed movie events with HBO (MADAME ROSE), NBC (THE NUTCRACKER), and Netflix (RUBY SLIPPERS). With Lionsgate Television, Offspring is in production on season two of STEP UP: High Water, the dance-driven drama for YouTube Premium, where season two will be premiering in early 2019.

ABOUT FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK INC.

Fuji Television continues to maintain its status as an innovative leader in Japan’s television industry since its establishment in 1959. We continue to provide motivating and cutting-edge programs as our list of domestic achievements prove. These programs are now being recognized for its rich quality and originality, and its formats are successfully transformed in various countries.

Plenty of our drama titles, beginning with THE 101st PROPOSAL, have been remade worldwide. Currently, more than 60 of our titles have been greenlit for remake mainly in Asian countries. We also produce a wide range of variety shows and game shows. Take our world-renowned IRON CHEF for example, the original Japanese version has been brought to nearly 80 countries, and its US local version is still immensely popular. Prominent formats such as RUN FOR MONEY among others are also in constant demand.

Fuji Television is also acknowledged for its motion picture business. Our most recent production SHOPLIFTERS directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Palme d’Or for best film this May, the highest award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

ABOUT AMUSE USA, INC. AND J-CREATION:

Established in 2014, Amuse Group USA, Inc (Amuse USA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amuse Inc. Alongside providing artist management and tour support for its bands — including BABYMETAL (pop-metal), ONE OK ROCK (rock), and Perfume (EDM) — Amuse USA produces and invests in film and TV projects in the US and discovers talent for its management division.

A cornerstone of the film and TV department’s activities is J-CREATION. J-CREATION is a year-round effort organized by Amuse group USA to bridge the gap between Japanese entertainment powerhouses and the US entertainment industry, facilitating the adaptation of Japanese IP into film, TV, and other business opportunities. Each year, Amuse USA has held a content matching event, J-CREATION: A FIRST LOOK SHOWCASE in Los Angeles that provides a place for Japanese entertainment powerhouses to promote their top content to Hollywood’s major studios, TV networks, production companies, and agencies. In addition to the Train MAN remake, Amuse USA’s ongoing innovative IP curation effort is responsible for two other TV series and three features in development at various studios and production companies.

Press Release

http://www.fujitv.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TRAIN_MAN_MIPCOM-ANNOUNCEMENT.pdf

 

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