Director Wolfgang Petersen, the man behind action blockbusters Poseidon and Troy, is reportedly hard at work on a live action adaptation of Yasutaka Tsutsui’s acclaimed novel, Paprika. The novel, about a psychiatric researcher who uses a machine to send her alter-ego into the dreams of her patients, was previously adapted by anime legend Satoshi Kon (Paranoia Agent, Millenium Actress). The film, animated by Madhouse, went on to win the best anime feature award at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair.
According to entertainment site MovieHole, Petersen’s film will focus on the novel as its inspirational source. While Kon’s feature incorporated plenty of animated effects and surrealistic characters and landscapes, Japanophiles are curious to see what a Western director will make of the source material’and about the size of the effects budget that could keep pace with Kon’s vision of a time- and space-bending dreamscape.
