Manga Movie News: VIZ Pictures Picks Up 20th Century Boys Trilogy

Now that the manga has made it to U.S. shores, it seems only right that the film version of Naoki Urasawa's action/suspense series 20th Century Boys (a.k.a. Nijusseiki Shōnen) is due to follow. VIZ Pictures recently announced that they've picked up the North American theatrical and DVD distribution rights for all three movies in the 20th Century Boys trilogy.

The first part, 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End will be shown as part of the grand opening of the new VIZ Cinemas in the New People Center in San Francisco's Japantown on the weekend of August 15, 2009, and will continue for a one-week run. These showings will be followed by a one-week run for the second installment in the trilogy.

Now here's the really exciting part: VIZ Cinema will host the world premiere of the THIRD and final chapter of 20th Century Boys on August 28th, presented simultaneously with the national release in Japan. That means the third installment will make its U.S. debut ON THE SAME DAY as it makes it opens in Japan. That almost never happens with Japanese films released in North America! Advanced sale tickets for these showings will go on sale on Friday, July 31, 2009 at vizcinema.com.

The 24-volume series of the manga (including 22 volumes of 20th Century Boys and 2 volumes of 21st Century Boys) is currently being released on a bi-monthly schedule as part of VIZ Media's VIZ Signature imprint. 20th Century Boys Volume 3 was released on June 16, and Volume 4 is due out in August 18, 2009. You can check out a cool video trailer of the 20th Century Boys manga at the VIZ Signature 20th Century Boys mini-site.

Not familiar with this best-selling seinen manga suspense/action/sci-fi series? Here's the plot summary from VIZ:

"The 20th Century Boys saga was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi (who also directed Happily Ever After, also available from VIZ Pictures) and begins in 1969 when a young boy named Kenji and his friends write “The Book of Prophecy.” In their book, they write about a future where they fight against an evil organization trying to take over the world and bring about Doomsday."

"Years later in 1997, a mysterious cult being lead by a man only known as “Friend” has emerged and gained strong influence over society. A series of catastrophic events begin to occur, mirroring the prophecies made up by the young Kenji. The greatest fear is that the climax of The Book of Prophecy will become a reality: on December 31st, 2000, a terrifying giant virus-spreading robot will attack the entire city of Tokyo, leading to the end of mankind. The only people who know about The Book are Kenji and his childhood friends. Who is Friend? Will Kenji and his friends are able to save mankind and live to see the 21st Century?"

Can't make it to San Francisco to see it on the big screen at VIZ Cinemas? The DVD editions of the first and second installment of this trilogy will be released in Fall/Winter 2009, with the third to follow sometime in 2010. I'll pass along updated release information as it gets released by VIZ.

Image credit: © 1999, 2006 Naoki Urasawa, Studio Nuts / Shogakukan © 2008 "20th Century Boys" Film Partners