Generator Entertainment Inks Partnerships With Japan’s Studio Muso, Korean Producer Lewis Taewan Kim (Exclusive)

Generator Entertainment, the production company recently launched by John Wick 3 screenwriter Chris Collins, producer Kelly McKee, and attorney Ken Browning, has struck a pair of strategic partnerships in Japan and South Korea, seeking to bolster its business in Asia by acquiring local IP and working with in-demand talent. 

In Japan, Generator Entertainment has allied with Tokyo-based Studio Muso, a production company founded by former Disney Japan executive Harry Tanaka and producer Nicholas Simon (The White Lotus, The Creator, Sympathizer). The companies have co-optioned a best-selling novel from Japanese publishing heavyweight Shueisha. They describe the title as “in the vein of Mission Impossible but set in Tokyo.” They are also collaborating on a Japan-set horror project penned by Collins. Titled Yokai, the feature is said to be in the psychological horror vein of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. 

In Seoul, Generator has struck a strategic deal with prolific Korean producer Lewis Taewan Kim (Okja, The Host, Sleep) and his Lewis Pictures banner. The partners are in development on the next film from Jo Sung-hee, whose 2021 sci-fi western Space Sweepers became a worldwide hit on Netflix. 

Both partnerships are described by Generator as non-exclusive. 

Launched last November with backing from Austin, Texas-based Hill Country Studios, Generator aims to develop, produce and finance film and TV series in the action, sci-fi, and horror genres at budgets in the $5 million to $20 million range.

Generator says its tie-up in Japan was a natural step given that co-founder Collins, who was born in Hong Kong, is Japanese-American and spent his formative years in Tokyo. Known for his work on The Wire, Sons of Anarchy and Star Wars Clone Wars, Collins describes his hybrid-language script for Yokai as a personal passion project. Generator has also begun development on a series adaptation of Canadian filmmaker Philippe McKie’s 2021 Japanese indie movie Dreams on Fire, exploring Tokyo’s underground dance world.  

Generator Entertainment summed up its ambitions in Asia with the following statement: “There are a vast amount of incredibly talented and important artists in Japan and Korea who have been making high-quality film and TV for decades. The world is becoming more and more aware of that.  What Roy Lee achieved by taking hit genre films from Asia such as The Grudge, The Ring and The Departed, and adapting them into the English language for a global audience is a recipe we greatly admire and hope to duplicate. We will do full English-language adaptations, fully local-language films, as well as hybrid language.”