On the heels of receiving her first-ever Emmy nomination, Cathy Yan has landed her next TV project. According to Deadline, Yan has signed on to direct a new live-action series based on Paprika, the 1993 sci-fi novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui.
Tsutsui’s novel imagined a future where scientists use dream monitoring and intervention as a means of psychotherapy. One scientist, Atsuko Chiba, adopts an alter-ego named Paprika to infiltrate her patients’ dreams and cure their mental illnesses. But when their technology suddenly falls into the wrong hands, Chiba and her colleagues must race against the clock to get it back.
This won’t be the first time that Paprika has made its way to screens. Legendary Japanese animator Satoshi Kon previously turned the book into a critically-acclaimed anime film in 2006. It was also the last movie that Kon directed before his death four years later. Rumors about a live-action American remake began circulating as early as 2009. In fact, the recently departed Wolfgang Peterson was once planning to direct the movie himself. But this version of the project never materialized.
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Last year, Yan directed an episode of Succession’s third season on HBO, which earned her a Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The episode also marked her first directorial effort since Birds of Prey hit theaters in early 2020. But before the opportunity to visit the DC Universe came along, she made waves at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with her debut feature, Dead Pigs, which finally got an international release via Mubi in 2021. Yan is also currently readying her next film, a sci-fi comedy called The Freshening.
Paprika hails from Amazon Studios and Hivemind. In addition to directing the series, Yan will serve as an executive producer alongside her longtime collaborator, Ash Sarohia, through their Rewild banner. Former Heroes star Masi Oka and Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown are executive producing as well.
Do you think Yan is a good choice to direct a live-action Paprika remake? Give us your impressions in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Paprika
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