YUKIKAZE: Tom Cruise joins Sci-Fi Film Adaptation for Warner Bros

Tom Cruise joins Yukikaze. Chohei Kambayashi‘s Yukikaze is being adapted into a live-action film by Warner Bros and it will star Tom Cruise. Yukikaze, is a science fiction Japanese novel series whose author is referred to by some as “Japan’s answer to Isaac Asimov”.  Yukikaze is “Japanese for ‘Snow Wind'”.

Yukikaze‘s plot synopsis:

Yukikaze occurs in the early 21st century. Thirty-three years before the events of the series, an alien force known as the JAM invaded Earth through a dimensional portal that appeared over Antarctica. Without alarming the general public, the United Nations establishes a defense force to oppose the threat and after a series of bloody battles, managed to push the enemy back to the other side of the portal. The UN establishes five bases on a planet named “Fairy” to continue the offensive against the JAM with the Fairy Air Force (FAF) leading the way. The main character, Lt Rei Fukai, pilots the Super Sylph B-503 fighter, nicknamed “Yukikaze”, an advanced armed tactical reconnaissance plane equipped with a near-sentient AI system, and belongs to the FAF’s recon squadron, the Boomerang Squadron. Over the course of the series, Fukai and the FAF struggles to defeat the JAM, who have perfected the art of human cloning and planted agents all over the FAF.

On the people that are currently behind-the-scenes of Yukikaze:

the film will be produced by 3 Arts’ Erwin Stoff and Tom Lassally, who developed and produced the sci-fi film All You Need Is Kill that Cruise starred in for Warner Bros and director Doug Liman. Viz Media’s Jason Hoffs will also be producing.

For those that do not want to wait for the live-action version of Yukikaze, there is already an anime version available for viewing:

Yukikaze…is a five-episode Japanese direct-to-video anime series produced by Gonzo and Bandai Visual and was released in Japan from August 28, 2002 to August 25, 2005. It is based on a popular science fiction novel of the same name by Ch?hei Kambayashi, and was produced in commemoration of Bandai Visual’s 20th anniversary. It was also later aired in Japan on the anime television network Animax, who later aired in its English language networks across Southeast Asia and other networks worldwide.

The series is notable for its air combat scenes, which were created with the help of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The JASDF worked with the Gonzo production team by recording actual sounds of the F-15J Eagle and running test flights at Komatsu Air Base, and having discussions on air combat tactics.

Yukikaze has twice won the Tokyo Anime Award for Original Video Animation in 2003 and 2006.

A Tom Cruise photograph:

Tom Cruise Smiling

This film reminds me of the long gestating Robotech project that has yet to be realized on the big screen.

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Source: Deadline