Major trading house Itochu Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed with several domestic firms and a U.S. movie production company to develop a live-action film based on the work of late cartoonist Shotaro Ishinomori.
The group will select a story from among Ishinomori's more than 500 works, including "Cyborg 009" and "Hotel," by March. The film could premiere by 2008.
The U.S. production company, Comic Book Movies LLC, was founded last year by Michael Uslan, who has produced other movies taken from comic series, including "Batman."