Sung Kang, the Fast and Furious star, has revealed that he is gearing ready to bring another street-racing franchise to the big screen.
Kang stated in an interview with the South China Morning Post newspaper that he had two new potential projects lined up, one of which is a live-action film version of Shichi Shigeno’s Initial D manga. While the project has not yet been greenlit, the actor said on his Car Stories podcast that he is developing it and “trying” to direct it.
Kang said the Initial D film will be, “about cars and drifting and cool things like that. Almost a Rocky or Karate Kid. A fun, big-budget movie that expresses my love affair for cars.”
Shigeno introduced the original manga in Kodansha’s Young Magazine in July of 1995. In 1998, an anime adaptation of the manga was released, and it subsequently gave rise to various OVAs (original video anime) and movies. In Spring 2024, Kodansha USA is set to release a fresh omnibus edition of the manga, featuring an updated translation and lettering. Notably, this manga had already served as the source of inspiration for a live-action film in 2005, directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, starring Jay Chou and Anne Suzuki.
