Toei Unveils Three Entries in ‘Kamen Rider’ 50th Anniversary Project
Major Japanese film producer and distributor Toei has announced new three entries for its “Kamen Rider 50th Anniversary” project.
The biggest is “Shin Kamen Rider,” a sci-fi actioner being scripted and directed by Anno Hideaki, the creator of the “Evangelion” sci-fi/fantasy franchise and the co-director of the 2016 box office smash “Shin Godzilla.” The live-action film is scheduled to open in March 2023 with international releases to be date-and-date. Casting, story and other information on the film was not forthcoming though in a statement Anno said that he wants to make an “entertainment that even those who don’t know the original show can enjoy.”
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Also announced was “Kamen Rider Black Sun,” a reboot of an iconic tokusatsu (“special effects”) TV series originally broadcast in 1987-88. The new series will be directed by Shiraishi Kazuya (“Blood of Wolves”) for a Summer 2022 start.
Toei will also make its first Kamen Rider anime series, “Fuuto PI,” for a spring 2022 debut. The international roll-out is set to start in the summer of the same year, with Funimation distributing. The series is based on a Sanjo Riku and Sato Masaki comic that launched in 2017.
The original “Kamen Rider” (Masked Rider) series first aired in 1971, based on the work of manga artist Ishinomori Shotaro. The title superhero was a cyborg with insect features that rode into battle on a motorcycle. The show generated an enduring TV-and-film franchise. In 1995 Toei joined forces with Saban Entertainment to launch “Masked Rider,” an American version of the 1988 Toei “Kamen Rider Black RX” TV series.
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