Perfectly in tune
with the recent technological and commercial breakthroughs in the world of virtual
reality (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PS VR, etc…), Skydance Television has acquired
the global rights for a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga Sword Art
Online, which they are hoping to bring to the small screen.
"[It]
follows[] a brilliant young beta tester Kirito and his group of friends when
they are trapped — alongside 10,000 other people — in a next-generation virtual
reality online role-playing game. The game is a world unto itself: filled with
sword fighting, monsters, magic and mystery, where the stakes are life and
death. Kirito and an ensemble of diverse characters must fight their way
through this hostile environment while making lives for themselves in the
fantastical world that is Sword Art Online."
Created by Kawahara Reki and published by Kadowawa
Corp., SAO is a popular light novel series that has been adapted to multiple
manga series, comics, anime, video game, and a movie, which will open in
Japanese theaters in 2017.
Avatar executive producer and Shutter
Island screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis will write and executive produce the
adaptation alongside Skydance's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross.
"At Skydance we are in the business of
world-building and SAO is a massive pop-culture phenomenon from which we plan
to launch a full-scale and wide-ranging set of live-action franchise extensions
across our business verticals, beginning with television," Skydance Media
CEO Ellison said. "We look forward to working alongside Laeta, Reki
Kawahara and the teams at Kadowawa and Aniplex to build out a deeply immersive
new universe of SAO in an authentic way that honors its well-established fan
base around the globe."
"For years I have been inspired by the inventive and masterful storytelling of the SAO franchise," Kalogridis said. "I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to work with such talented partners to bring this cutting-edge yet timeless story to a new format at Skydance."
As a fan of both the manga and anime, it will be with
interest that will be looking at the live-action adaptation of SAO, which couldn’t
be more zeitgeist-y.
Kalogridis is currently writing and executive
producing Skydance's upcoming Netflix drama Altered Carbon.
Source - THR
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