Ascendant Fox developing English-language adaptation of Reset Game
Lionsgate-backed Globalgate Entertainment has partnered with Boiling Point UK indie Ascendant Fox on an English-language adaptation of hit Japanese manga title, Reset Game.
Tehran producer Simon Allen is attached to write the pilot and will serve as showrunner for the adaptation, which is being produced in association with Manga distributor Comisma.
The original manga title, which was created by Kanji Yoshikai, runs to more than 200 chapters and follows a group of multinational captives who enter a brutal survival maze known only as The Tower, a sentient, shifting structure where every floor unlocks new horrors and only collaboration can lead to salvation.
It has racked up almost 8m views on Comisma’s Manga platform, Ganma! and the adaptation is being exec produced by Allen, and Ascendant Fox founders Bart Ruspoli and Hester Ruoff. The London-based indie is behind the breakout 2022 film Boiling Point, which spawned the BBC series follow-up in 2023.
Motoko Kimura, who worked with Globalgate to secure the project, will also work across development and exec produces, alongside as-yet unnamed reps from Globalgate and Comisma.
Allen’s credits are myriad, he created the BBC2 adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s fantasy police procedural The Watch and has written and exec produced Sky’s Das Boot and Netflix’s critically acclaimed film Choose or Die.
Ruspoli said: “The moment Hester Ruoff and I read Reset Game, we knew it had massive global potential. It’s a gripping, emotionally layered story that speaks to the world we live in today.
“With Simon Allen’s bold creative vision, and in partnership with Globalgate and Comisma, we’re thrilled to bring this project to life and can’t wait for it to reach the worldwide audience it truly deserves.”
Allen added: “Reset Game is a relentless genre masterclass packed with powerful character arcs, arresting cinematic imagery and mind-blowing set pieces.
“I feel so lucky to be working with the vibrant Ascendant Fox and the formidable team at Globalgate and Comisma on such a unique yet universal story.”
Yoshikai said: “When I was drawing Reset Game, I always envisioned it as live-action in my head. This was because I had firmly decided to create a live-action film and/or series, inspired by my Manga.
“My father worked as a movie theatre illustrator, so film have been a part of my life since childhood. I can’t put into words how surprised and thrilled I was when I found out that Globalgate would be adapting it as live-action.”
Kimura added: “I still remember the excitement I felt when I first came across Reset Game and now even more thrilled to deliver this story through the gaze of Simon Allen.”
A spokesperson from Globalgate described the Manga as “an extraordinary graphic world stocked with mystery, suspense, life, death, confinement, escape, discovery, friendship and hope” while a Comisma spokesperson said the adaptation would “extend its worldwide reach.”
No comments yet