Japanese seller Nikkatsu has closed several deals at EFM for titles in its Sushi Typhoon genre label.

Germany’s 8 Films picked up all rights to Alien Vs Ninja and Mutant Girls Squad for Germany, Benelux and Scandinavia.

Period actioner Alien Vs Ninja, directed by Seiji Chiba, is in currently post-production. Mutant Girls Squad just completed principal photography under three directors (Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi), each handling various sections of the film.

Additionally, Sion Sono’s serial killer drama Cold Fish sold to French buyer Wild Side. As reported on ScreenDaily, Nikkatsu unveiled Cold Fish at market, with the film set to be completed at the end of March.

In recent years presales have disappeared and it’s become increasingly difficult for Japanese sellers to close deals on titles that are not yet complete, particularly those without promo clips.

With an unabashed genre approach plus aggressive marketing toward foreign markets, even employing Twitter, the 100% Nikkatsu-financed label seems to be bucking the trend.

Nikkatsu sales rep Shinako Matsuda explains: ” The Sushi Typhoon titles are known as high quality genre films so buyers don’t hesitate before they watch the finished films. For Alien Vs Ninja only a three-minute promo was available, and we had no footage for Mutant Girls Squad or Cold Fish.”

Nikkatsu previously closed deals for Alien Vs Ninja with the UK and Thailand at AFM.

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