Exclusive : Peterson’s Paprika?

Wolfgang Peterson is ostensibly out to court the youngsters again (though this will obviously be a little edgier than “The NeverEnding Story”  – you’d hope so, anyway) with news he’s developing a feature film version of the book/anime-film “Paprika”.

The filmmaker, whose last film was Warner’s big-budget “Poseidon” in 2005, is, we’re told, working diligently on bringing Satoshi Kon’s acclaimed novel to the big screen (Actually, it’s the second time “Paprika” has been a film – in 2006, Sony released an anime version).

The novel tells of a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient’s dreams. When its stolen, all hell breaks loose, and only a young female therapist can stop it: Paprika.

A 1993 novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui, “Paprika” first appeared in Marie Claire split up into four different parts. A manga adaption of the novel was created by Reiji Hagiwara in 1995, but wasn’t published until 2003. The novel was adapted as an animated film in 2006, which was itself adapted into a manga the following year by Eri Sakai.

Aside from “Paprika”, Peterson is also onboard the alien invasion flick “Uprising”, and is set to produce “A Spell for Chameleon”, a new fantasy from director Chris Palmer.