Warner Brothers Japan have announced their live-action film adaptation of A ROBOT IN THE GARDEN, to be released in 2022 under the title TANG. The main character, Ben, will be played by Kazunari Ninomiya, known by fans as Nino. He is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actor, voice actor, presenter, radio host, and member of the much-loved Japanese pop group Arashi. The news has had a huge impact on Japanese media, being covered by morning TV shows on 11 key stations nationwide. One such TV clip can be seen in the below tweet:
めざまし#二宮和也 主演 映画『#TANG タング』 3月下旬から先月中旬迄撮影 クランクアップインタビュー 初タッグの三木孝浩監督について 「監督が段取りでお芝居を(撮影)するっていうのが非常に印象的。(演出意図が)明確にあって…(そういう撮影は)『硫黄島からの手紙』以来…すごいなあっていう…」 pic.twitter.com/WA7Ikvvjxo
— L◡̈⃝︎⋆︎*a*mbsy (@n_n_6_6_n_n) June 10, 2021
Hastags #二宮和也 (‘#KazunariNinomiya’), and #TANG have been trending on Twitter in Japan. Below are Japanese press clippings of the film news (click to enlarge): Japanese publisher Shogakukan says that the books are currently sold out on online stores. wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/tang-movie/ This follows from news in September last year of Shiki Theatre’s musical adaptation of A ROBOT IN THE GARDEN, which featured puppets by Toby Olié (War Horse).