Scary collaboration
JAPANESE horrormeister Koji Shiraishi (pic) is in talks to shoot a movie in Malaysia. The filmmaker who hails from Fukuoka, Japan, was in Kuala Lumpur in early March to discuss a collaboration with Malaysian filmmaker Ryon Lee.
Shiraishi is best known for J-horros like Noroi: The Curse (2005), Carved: A Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007), Sadako Vs Kayako (2016), and his newest release, which is a live-action film adaptation of psychological thriller manga Funouhan or Impossiblity Defence (2018).
Lee has a diverse repertoire, but is also well-known for writing and directing horror flicks like Seventh (2014), The Transcend (2014) and Haunted Hotel (2017). The Malaysian will be tasked with writing the script, which will likely revolve around Malaysian ghost stories.
The project is already in preproduction, with Shiraishi himself declaring gleefully: “It will be a very scary and very entertaining movie which is going to be a big hit!”
During the initial stages of discussion, Shiraishi met up with Aron Koh of Lomo Pictures and Yuri Aizawa of Toybox Projects.
Since it will be his first time working on a film in Malaysia, Shiraishi met up with some Malaysians to learn more about the lifestyle and culture. He revealed that he plans to shoot in a small town to achieve a more sinister ambience. He also plans to shoot some scenes in his home country.
“We hope to hold auditions to cast both Japanese and Malaysian actors and also use music from both countries,” said Aizawa, whose company Toybox Projects is bringing The Hyde Acoustic Concert Tour 2018 Asia Live to Kuala Lumpur in May.
“It will be very Japanese stylistihope cally, but we to strike a balMalaysian ance with a script,” said Koh. His previous movie Haunted Hotel was a Malaysia-Thai-China joint production which successfully combined cross-cultural elements, and starred Thai actress Aom Sushar, Chinese actor Leon Li Chuan and Malaysian actor Teddy Chin.
Principal photography for the movie is expected to commence in the second quarter of next year at the earliest, as Shiraishi is now occupied with Japanese movie projects while Lee is working on a Malaysia-Hong Kong horror flick.
By SETO KIT YAN