So you probably remember a while back when VIZ announced the formation of VIZ Productions, a Hollywood-based arm of the company that would be working on developing live-action adaptations of VIZ(/Shueisha/Shogakukan) titles in the States. Shortly after that I was given the opportunity to ask Jason Hoffs, VIZ Productions’ Head of Productions, a few questions– and here are the results! The full interview is after the jump.

Gia Manry: Obviously the biggest question people have is “what titles are you working towards films of,” but since I assume we’ll know as soon as you can tell us, I’ll ask instead: how soon might we hear an announcement?

Jason Hoffs: VIZ Productions is working on several properties simultaneously. Because it takes some time to package creative elements, and get signed deals from studios, there is a lag time before we can officially make an announcement. We expect to announce some exciting new developments soon.

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Anime:
- FUNimation just shipped out a press release announcing that Jyu-Oh-Sei is now available in its entirety– sub-only –on FUNi’s VOD website. Each episode is $1.99, or you can buy the full series (11 episodes) for $16.99– about $5 off. Not bad, eh?

Manga:
- Iris Print has finally officially closed shop, effective July 31st, ‘08. To clear out the inventory, owner Kellie Lynch is offering a 50% off coupon for all the books currently out.

- Much as I hate to continue the melancholy mood of the BL fandom, Libre has issued its official statement on the Youka Nitta plagiarism issue on the official B-Boy website. The gist: a reminder of Nitta’s self-imposed suspension. They actually used the term “jishuku,” which is a Japanese apologetic tradition where one secludes oneself after being caught doing something, as an apology.

- Shoujo mangaka Mayu Shinjou, best known in North America for Sensual Phrase, has announced a genre-hop: she’s going to draw a one-shot in the shounen mangabon Jump Sq..

Games:
- This has been on my to-do for quite some time, and I’m kind of surprised I haven’t heard of it elsewhere– Princess Maker 5 (the well-known princess-raising game by Gainax) is being ported to PSP– which means that North American PSP owners can import their own copies. The games don’t seem to have particularly caught on in the US, but I know a handful of fans will be happy to hear about it.

Toys/Swag:
- Are you at all familiar with the concept of “decotora” (decoration truck), those extravagantly-decorated trucks often used to garner attention at special events and whatnot? Well, doesn’t matter– there’s one you still may be interested in. Yes, there is now a PlaModel of a Lucky Star decotora. Terrifying? Yeah, maybe.

Movies:
- VIZ is really pushing the PR machine for the new VIZ Productions stuff– at least, as much as they can without an actual specific film project to announce. Anyway, ICv2 has a three-part interview with Jason Hoffs, formerly of Dreamworks and now of VIZ Pictures. Hoffs talks about what makes manga a strong candidate for movies these days, and he also notes that they may not stick just to live-action movies: animation and TV are both possibilities (though the focus right now is movies).

While TOKYOPOP movie projects remain in a sort of limbo– announced, but with no specific details like cast or dates –VIZ continues their slower but firmer roll into the movie industry, with Variety now reporting that the new office, VIZ Productions, has brought on former Amblin and Dreamworks executive Jason Hoffs to liaise between Hollywood and VIZ’s Japanese overlords, Shogakukan and Shueisha.

In the article, Hoffs notes a few specific titles. He doesn’t say that they’re being made into movies for sure, but it’ll give you a sense of some of the possibilities…not that many of them are surprising:

• Naruto
• Bleach
• Death Note
• InuYasha
• Monster
• Vampire Knight

Now, it’s kind of tough for me to imagine lengthy series like Naruto, Bleach, or InuYasha– or the complex tapestry of awesome that is Monster –being made into a single live-action movie, and I’m also not sure if the movie studios would be confident enough to commit to doing a series of movies. I suppose an arc or two from Naruto or Bleach would be doable in a single movie, though.

And I don’t have a hard time imagining movie studios liking the concept. First off, manga is big with that ever-desirable market of pre-teen and teenage kids (mm, delicious disposable income). Second, do we really have any good action movie series right now that are geared more towards that young audience? Maybe it’s just because of my own age, but it seems like The Mummy and the latest slew of comic book movies are much more designed for the 20-30 crowd.

And third, let’s face it: they’re probably getting tired of the endless adaptations of young adult fantasy that are being churned out in hopes of catching the Harry Potter crowd. It’s not hard to imagine that tween-friendly shounen action flicks might be the ever-sought “Next Big Thing.”

Which brings us to Vampire Knight, a darker-themed series but still very much aimed at tween girls. I mean, The Twilight Saga is doing pretty damn well– why not VK? But since Twilight Saga is already being adapted into movies, might it be too late for VK to hit the mainstream market without seeming like a knock-off (even though VK started before Twilight– barely; January 2005 versus October 2005, respectively).

…Well, that’s all speculation on my part. No doubt we’re ALL looking forward to hearing whatever official news we get in the future.