Phoenix Wright Movie Confirmed
By Ajané Celestin-Greer | May 27, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
Japanese film website Eiga confirmed Thursday that Takashi Miike (think Audition, and more recently, Thirteen Assassins) is in fact directing a live action movie of Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney franchise. The film will star Hiroki Narimiya (probably best known to most gamers as the voice and likeness of Masayoshi Tanimura of Yazkuza 4) as Phoenix Wright and is being produced by Toei. Other confirmed cast remembers are Takumi Saitō as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, and Mirei Kiritani as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato).
The film will take place in a parallel world in Japan, where a large increase in brutal crimes has led to the establishment of a new type of courtroom system. Speed has taken priority over hard evidence, as the prosecutor and defending lawyer directly face off in a public courtroom to determine the defendant’s guilt or innocence within 3 days. The two sides rush to conduct their investigations within those three days, similar to the original video games. The games’ signature lines such as “Objection!” and “Take that!” will still be present.
Toei says it will use plenty of CG and visual effects to enliven courtroom scenes. They have also created a large-scale courtroom at their Kyoto studio. Filming is expected to wrap up in late June and be released around the beginning of 2012.
Earlier this week at the Cannes Film Festival, Miike told interviewer Karin Badt that his next film is a court drama based on a Nintendo DS game, leading to rumors that it had to be a Phoenix Wright inspired movie.
