Phoenix Wright movie getting worldwide release

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney director Miike Takashi has confirmed that film adaptation of the popular lawyer-sim video game series will be adapted for international audiences.

Takashi made the announcement during an audience Q&A session following the film's public premier at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). He explained each version will be subtitled and audio dubbed to match up with the localized Phoenix Wright character names specific to each region, but did not say when western audiences could expect to see the final product.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a bit of a departure for Miike Takashi, who achieved mainstream attention for his more bloody Japanese hits, Audition and Ichi the Killer. In an interview with IFFR, Takashi said switching gears for Phoenix Wright was not as hard as some would suspect, noting, “This film is indeed lighter, but if you examine my oeuvre as a whole, you’ll discover that I’ve made quite a lot of light fare... Basically, I’m always going around in circles. If I’ve shot a lot of extreme stuff, I want to make something light again. Now I’ve made a light film, so it’s almost certain that my next film will be pretty extreme.’’

As for what drew him to adapt the quirky video game series in the first place, he added: “Japanese films and novels often embody the message that as long as you work hard, you will develop and improve. What I loved about this game is the fact that it had none of that. The lead doesn’t develop, doesn’t get better over time. He is driven by the desire to help others, but doesn’t know much about the legal system.”

By Twitch's account, Phoenix Wright did not over well with critics during its first press showing last week. However, it scored a 4.3 our of 5 with the public in a later showing, landing it in the top 10 audience awards list. According to its review, the movie is pretty much what one would expect from a Phoenix Wright flick; that is, hammy acting, over-the-top-actors, and a series of improbable court cases. We're looking forward to judging it and (hopefully) the newly announced Phoenix Wright 5 game ourselves when they make the trip out west.