Screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt
Adapting Takashi Miike's Recent Sensation

Los Angeles and Tokyo - August 25, 2015 - Nippon Television (Nippon TV) and Global entertainment studio All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW) are teaming with Chris and Paul Weitz's production company Depth of Field, to develop and produce their most ambitious project to date, an English-language remake of the Japanese thriller, SHIELD OF STRAW.

©Kazuhiro Kiuchi/Kodansha
©2013 "Shield of Straw" Film Partners

This is ANEW's first action film and the third project in active development with Depth of Field. ANEW and Depth of Field are also developing the horror film GHOST TRAIN and the thriller BIRTHRIGHT.

"Takashi Miike's original film was taut, action-packed and the kind of story that grabs the audience's attention right from the start and those assets, combined with the Rothenbergers' writing talents and Depth of Field's track record, provide all the elements necessary to make this a blockbuster endeavor for all involved," ANEW's Senior Vice President of Production Annmarie Bailey said. "This significantly builds on our relationship with Depth of Field and we're confident it will appeal to a mass audience that clamors for action adventure and thrillers."

SHIELD OF STRAW further reinforces ANEW's mandate to build a cultural bridge between the leading creative companies in Japan and prominent Hollywood filmmakers, in the process bringing fresh and compelling Japanese IP to audiences internationally.

The original Japanese-titled film, 藁の楯 WARA NO TATE, tells the compelling story of a team of five police officers charged with protecting an accused killer who has been marked for death by the billionaire grandfather of his latest victim. Directed by Takashi Miike, the film was a finalist in the competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In addition, Vertical Publishing will release a SHIELD OF STRAW novel on January 16, 2016.

Photo by David Roker

"It's great to be partnering with Nippon Television, Mr. Kitajima, and ANEW on this high action film," Depth of Field's Balgoyen said. "We appreciate all ANEW did to identify and acquire this IP and we couldn't be more excited to have the Rothenbergers join us."

"While we received numerous offers for a Hollywood remake, the main reason we chose ANEW and Depth of Field as partners was the strong passion they felt towards the Japanese SHIELD OF STRAW film," Nippon TV's Kitajima said. "From the very start of the original production, there was no doubt of the film's scope and of the universality of its theme."

In addition to the trio of projects with Depth of Field, additional ANEW projects include 6000, in association with producer Mike Medavoy, SOUL ReVIVER, in association with Fields Corp. and filmmaker partners Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz of Bedford Falls Prods., and a live action remake of TOEI Animation's robot anime GAIKING, with producer Gale Ann Hurd's Valhalla Entertainment, Inc.

About Nippon Television Network Corporation
Nippon Television Network Corporation is Japan's top-rated broadcaster, finishing No. 1 in the All Day, Prime Time, and Golden Time categories in 2014. Since becoming Japan's first commercial broadcaster in August 1953, Nippon TV has gained a reputation as the country's finest producer and broadcaster of all genres of programs, from news, documentaries, sports, dramas, entertainment shows to animation. One of the biggest successes for Nippon TV is its format DRAGONS' DEN, which has been sold in 27 countries. Nippon TV's holdings include companies that deal with movies, animation, events, TV shopping, and merchandising.
https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/

About All Nippon Entertainment Works, Inc.
With offices in Tokyo and Hollywood, All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW) is a global entertainment studio that links world class filmmakers, the Hollywood creative community and studios with a consortium of major Japanese intellectual property rights holders to develop creative content, including films, books, toys, animation, and Manga, into global English-language motion pictures and television. ANEW is funded by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), a public-private investment fund affiliated with the Japanese government. http://www.an-ew.com/en/

About Depth of Field
Depth of Field was founded in 1999 by brothers Chris and Paul Weitz and Andrew Miano following the Weitz brothers' breakout directorial debut of AMERICAN PIE. Over the course of the next 15 years, along with development executive, Dan Balgoyen, the Weitz brothers and Miano have taken on various roles producing, directing and writing to expand the diversity of feature films on their slate. Depth of Field credits include ABOUT A BOY, IN GOOD COMPANY, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST, A BETTER LIFE and ADMISSION. Depth of Field recently wrapped production on Christopher McCoy's directorial Debut, GOOD KIDS. Based in Los Angeles, Depth of Field also currently has a first look deal with Fox 21 Television Studios. Their current release is the feature film GRANDMA, written and directed by Paul Weitz, which opened August 21st through Sony Pictures Classics.

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