TGS 2005: Koei canceling Ni-Oh movie

Akira Kurowasa fans who have been looking forward to the movie version of Koei's debut PlayStation 3 game Ni-Oh, today received unfortunate news. During a press conference at Tokyo Game Show 2005, producer Kou Shibusawa announced that production on the film has been canceled due to complications. He did not go into detail.

"When we first announced Ni-Oh, we said that we will be producing a movie simultaneously with the development of the game. However, we have canceled the production of the film due to various factors," commented Shibusawa. "We will be concentrating our efforts on the development of the PlayStation 3 game. We plan to make it an action game that takes full advantage of the PS3 hardware."

Ni-Oh is based on a script by the late, legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The movie was supposed to be the directorial debut of Akira Kurosawa's son, Hisao Kurosawa.