Disney's “Big Hero 6” animation to open Tokyo Film Fest

PanARMENIAN.Net - The world premiere of Disney's Big Hero 6 animation will open the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival on Oct. 23, while Takashi Yamazaki's live-action Parasyte adaptation will bring proceedings to a close with another global bow, The Hollywood Reporter said.

"We are thrilled to premiere Big Hero 6 at the Tokyo International Film Festival. It is truly an honor to be selected as the opening film," directors Don Hall and Chris Williams said in a statement. "The setting of our film, San Fransokyo, is a fictional, futuristic mash-up of two of our favorite cities in the world — San Francisco and Tokyo — and the research we did in Tokyo informed every detail of the film."

2014 is turning out to be quite a year for Disney in Japan, with the massive success of Frozen, followed by Maleficent taking over at the top of the local box office.

In a first for a Disney animation, a Japanese manga adaptation of the film, titled Baymax, will begin serialization Aug. 20, with promises to reveal plot details to local audiences. Big Hero 6 is scheduled for release in the U.S. on Nov. 7.

Parasyte is adapted from a best-selling manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki. Director Yamazaki (Eternal Zero) previously brought the Always — Sunset on 3rd Street manga to the big screen three times to great acclaim.

"We live in troubled times, and Parasyte starts a conversation about how the human species will survive," said Yamazaki.

Nobushige Toshima, managing director of the festival, described it as an honor to be able to present the opening and closing films, noting that Tokyo "will be focusing on animation" this year. Director general Yasushi Shiina said last year that the festival should expand its emphasis to anime, in which Japan remains a world leader.

The Tokyo fest will run Oct. 23 to 31, while its affiliated multi-content market, TIFFCOM, will run from Oct. 21 to 23, the first time it will take place outside the duration of the main event.