It was reported on Saturday that Josh Hartnett & Shinobu Terajima will star in upcoming Japanese-American dramedy ‘Oh Lucy’, which just recently finished filming in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
The film was derived from the short film of the same name that played at the 2015 Sundance Festival. The short film won the Jury Prize for International Fiction at the festival. The short film was directed and written by Japanese director Atsuko Hirayanagi. It also played at Toronto and Cannes.
The story follows a middle-aged chain-smoking Japanese woman (Terajima) who enrolls in an English language course and falls for her American instructor (Hartnett). The instructor gives her a blonde wig, which causes her to develop an an alter-ego named ‘Lucy’. When her instructor abruptly leaves, the woman embarks on journey to find him, traveling as far as Southern California.
The feature length script, also written by Hirayanagi, was the recipient of the Sundance Institute/NHK Award, which stipulates that NHK providing both financing and co-production support for the film.
Although it has not been stated, it can be assumed given the content that the feature film will be in both the Japanese language as well as parts in English (similar to the original).
Japanese actors Kaho Minami and Koji Yakusho will also star in the production.
Terajima is a well-known Japanese actress, who is considered among the best of her generation. She herself comes from a family of actors, with her father and brother partaking in the classical Japanese theatrical art of ‘kabuki’ theatre, while her mother was a film actress as well. Even Terajima’s grandfather was a producer at the Tōei film studios. She herself has been nominated five times by the Japanese Academy Awards for Best Actress/Best Supporting Actress, and won in 2004 for her role in Akame 48 Waterfalls. She also won the Silver Berlin Bear in 2011 for Best Actress in the film Caterpillar.
Hartnett, known for films such as Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down, has most recently been seen in the series Penny Dreadful. At one time one of the most sought out actors in Hollywood, Harnett’s career went downhill after he turned down roles in major blockbuster films, such as Superman and Batman Begins. But expect to see Hartnett taking over the silver screen again in James Franco’s upcoming film The Long Home alongside Franco, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Hutchinson, and Tim Black Nelson, as well as A Moment to Remember with Jena Malone.
There is no release date set for Oh, Lucy.
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