With the Wachowski Brothers' anime-inspired Speed Racer hitting screens this weekend, Hollywood A-listers are lining up to jump on the Japanese bandwagon.
Leonardo Di Caprio is first in the queue. The Titanic star is to produce two films based on the most famous of all manga movies, Akira. Each film will cover three volumes of the original comic book stories about teenage bikers getting mixed up in governmental genetic scheming. The first is due to be released in the summer of 2009.
One of Di Caprio's old directors is also getting in on the action. Steven Spielberg announced last month that he is to make a live action version of another manga classic, Ghost In The Shell. The original 1989 movie inspired the Wachowskis to make The Matrix.
And, not wanting to be left out, Unbreakable lensman M. Night Shyamalan is to
make a film based on another popular Japanese cartoon. The Last Airbender will begin shooting later this year and has been inked in for release in July 2010.
They must all be hoping that Speed Racer doesn't stall at the box office this weekend.