Image source: Neofilms’Facebook page — via Anime News Network
HongKong film distributor Neofilms announced last Friday that it will open the live-action film of Yuuto Suzuki's Sakamoto Days manga in Hong Kong on September 17.
The film opened in Japan on April 29, and ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold 346,000 tickets and earned 478 million yen (about US$3.05 million) in its first three days. Inits first eight days in the Japanese box office, which spanned the entirety of the GoldenWeek holidays, the film sold 1.14 million tickets and earned 1.5 billion yen (about US$9.58 million).
Viz Media and MANGA Plus are publishing the manga in English digitally. Viz is also publishing the manga in print. MANGA Plus describes the story:
Taro Sakamoto was the ultimate assassin, feared by villains and admired by hitmen. But one day… he fell in love! Retirement, marriage, fatherhood and then… Sakamoto gainedweight! the chubby guy who runs the neighborhood store is actually a former legendary hitman! Can he protect his family from danger? Get ready to experience a new kind of action comedy series!
Snow Man member Ren Meguro stars as Tarō Sakamoto, and Fumiya Takahashi plays Shin Asakura. Aya Ueto plays Tarō Sakamoto's wife Aoi Sakamoto, while MiyuYoshimoto plays Tarō Sakamoto's daughter Hana Sakamoto. Other cast members include Mayū Yokota as Lu Shaotang, Junki Tozuka as Heisuke Mashimo, Akihisa Shiono as Kashima, and Keisuke Watanabe as Natsuki Seiba. Takumi Kitamura, Yūsei Yagi, and Meru Nukumi play Order assassins Nagumo, Shishiba, and Osaragi, respectively.
Yūichi Fukuda (live-actionGintama, Under Ninja) directed and wrote the script for the film. Keiya Tabuchi (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, live-action Attack on Titan, Kamen Rider Amazons) directed the action. CREDEUS produced the film with Avex Pictures.