Tom Cruise attached to upcoming adaptation of Japanese novel, anime Yukikaze

Fresh off the recent release of Oblivion and has also recently finished in the shooting of Doug Liman’s sci-fi thriller All You Need Is Kill, Tom Cruise has recently been attached to star in an adaptation of author Chōhei Kambayashi’s sci-fi novel series "Yukikaze". Yukikaze was also adapted into a five-episode Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) wch was release in 2002 till 2005.

The book series takes place on an Earth ravaged by war, where a hyper-dimensional passageway opened up over Antarctica thirty years previously, setting into motion events that would find the human race uniting to fight off the mysterious alien force known as JAM. Cruise would play a second lieutenant who is tasked with heading into enemy territory—the alien home planet Fairy—and gathering information that can bring an end to the war once and for all. [click the link below to read more]
Yukikaze is in the early stages of development. Tom Lassally (producer of All You Need Is Kill) will produce Yukikaze alongside Erwin Stoff. A director and screenwriter has yet to be attached. Currently, Cruise is developing another Mission: Impossible film with his Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie at the helm and the two are also working on another Lee Child adaptation for a Jack Reacher follow-up.  Most recently, Cruise entered negotiations to star in Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  No word on which project will be Cruise’s next, but we’ll likely have a clearer idea of his short term slate once Oblivion opens.

Yukikaze the OVA series is notable for its air combat scenes, which were created with the help of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The JASDF worked with the Gonzo production team by recording actual sounds of the F-15J Eagle and running test flights at Komatsu Air Base, and having discussions on air combat tactics. Yukikaze has twice won the Tokyo Anime Award for Original Video Animation in 2003 and 2006

In the meantime, to give you a glimpse of what to expect from this movie, here is a synopsis of Chōhei Kambayashi’s Yukikaze:

More than thirty years ago, a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared over the continent of Antarctica. Fighters from the mysterious alien force known as the JAM poured through the passage, the first wave an attempted terrestrial invasion. Their ferocity was unquestionable, their aim unknown. Humanity, united by a common enemy, managed to repel the invaders, chasing them back through the passageway to the strange planet nicknamed “Fairy.”

The task of finishing the battle was given to the newly formed FAF, a combat force created to go to Fairy and eliminate the JAM bases once and for all. Now, in the midst of a war with no end in sight, Second Lieutenant Rei Fukai carries out his missions in the skies over Fairy. Attached to Tactical Combat and Surveillance Unit 3 of the Special Air Force, his duty is to gather information on the enemy and bring it back to base—no matter the human cost. His only constant companion in this lonely task is his fighter plane, the sentient FFR-31 Super Sylph, call sign: Yukikaze.