Birds of Prey’s Cathy Yan is set direct the live-action series Paprika, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel of the same name, which itself was turned into 2006’s seminal anime masterpiece.
According to Deadline Yan will executive produce and direct the series for Amazon Studios and Hivemind. Her producing partner Ash Sarohia will also ep under their Rewild banner, as well as Masi Oka, and Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown.
Paprika tells the story of Dr. Atsuko Chiba, who works as a scientist by day and, under the code name Paprika is a dream detective at night. Atsuko and her colleagues are working on a device called the DC Mini, which is intended to help psychiatric patients, but in the wrong hands it could destroy people’s minds. When a prototype is stolen, Atsuko/Paprika springs into action to recover it before damage is done.
Tsutsui’s novel was first published in Marie Claire in the early 90s, before Reiji Hagiwara created a Manga adaptation that was released in 2003. Then in 2006 Tokyo Godfathers director Satoshi Kon’s anime version came out to universal acclaim, and had more than just a passing influence on Christopher Nolan’s similar dream-within-a-dream techno-thriller Inception.
Let us know if you’ve read or seen Paprika, and whether you’re looking forward to Cathy Yan’s dream-weaving by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
