Film cast and crew of film "Namiya" pose for a group photo at a press conference held in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2017. (Photo/ China.org.cn)
The bestselling novel "Miracles of the Namiya General Store" by mystery novel master Keigo Higashino will be adapted into a Chinese production set to be released in December.
The Chinese adaptation "Namiya" will be produced by Hong Kong producer Barbie Tung, co-produced by Yin Hongbo, directed by Han Jie, with China's top writer-and-director Han Han serving as art director. Wanda Pictures, Emperor Motion Pictures and Han Han's studio will co-present the film.
The director Han Jie and the cast members Wang Junkai, a hot teen idol from boy band TFBoys, Uygur Chinese actress Dilraba Dilmurat, Chinese actors Dong Zijian and Li Hongqi announced at a press conference in Beijing that the film will be released in China during the year-end New Year film season.
The director revealed that the film's adaptation script moved the original novel writer Keigo Higashino. He added that the Japanese licensors are very strict on adaptations so his team worked on the screen play for over two years until Keigo Higashino gave the go ahead.
The novel, "Miracles of the Namiya General Store" won Japan's prestigious Chuo Koron Literary Prize and has sold 10 million copies in Asia since it was published in 2012 and was applauded as "the most touching work ever from Keigo Higashino." There was also a Japanese adaptation film made by Ryuichi Hiroki this year – winning the praise of Japanese critics as the "most tear-inducing" story.
The quality of the Chinese version will not be known until Dec. 29, 2017 when it will be released in China. Han Han, the art director for the film, said he had seen the first cut of the film and it is pretty good.
