WOWOW Boards Tokyo Vice

WOWOW has closed an all-rights distribution deal in Japan for the new series Tokyo Vice, which the company is co-producing with Endeavor Content and HBO Max.

Tokyo Vice is loosely inspired by American journalist Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. The series recounts Adelstein’s real-life, first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat, with Ansel Elgort starring as the journalist as he embeds himself into the police squad to reveal corruption.

Starring alongside Elgort is Ken Watanabe as a Tokyo police detective, as well as Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller and Ella Rumpf. Michael Mann is directing the Tokyo Vice pilot and serves as executive producer with J.T. Rogers, Emily Gerson Saines, Alan Poul, Jake Adelstein, Elgort, Destin Daniel Cretton, Watanabe, Brad Caleb Kane, Kayo Washio and John Lesher. J.T. Rogers created and wrote the series.

The series will stream exclusively on HBO Max in the U.S. The show began filming in Tokyo at the beginning of the year but went on a production hiatus due to the coronavirus. It resumes production this week.

Kayo Washio, WOWOW’s head of its Los Angeles office, said: “Tokyo Vice is a true passion project for me as I’ve had my eyes on the material for quite some time and trusted business relationships with some of the key players involved for an even longer period of time. It is the type of story that deserves and necessitates the pedigree of creative talent assembled to bring it to life. WOWOW is proud to be involved in a series that hits close to home for us, literally and figuratively, and has such a gifted team bringing it all together. Ultimately, we believe this will be an event series that audiences in Japan and throughout the world will be hooked into.”

Prentiss Fraser, executive VP of international TV sales at Endeavor Content, added: “It’s an honor to collaborate with Wowow on Tokyo Vice. Ensuring authenticity and being true to Japanese culture and society were top priorities for our team. To have a local partnership to ensure this vision is truly valuable and we look forward to creating many seasons together.”