Celluloid Dreams has taken on Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django, which will have its world premiere in competition at Venice before screening in Toronto's Midnight Madness section.

Celluloid has acquired worldwide rights outside of Asia, which Sedic International is handling.

Producers are T. Nakazawa of Sedic International; Geneon Entertainment; Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan); Dentsu; TV Asahi; Shogakukan; A Team; Nagoya Broadcasting Network and Tokyu Recreation.

The deal with Celluloid was brokered by Christine Iso of LA-based Pacifica International Film & TV Corp.

The former director of Audition pays homage to the spaghetti western with Japanese style with this English-language project, set during the Genpei clan wars of the 12th century. The cast features Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Yusuke Iseya, Masanobu Ando, Takaaki Ishibashi, Yoshino Kimura, Teruyuki Kagawa, and Kaori Momoi, with a cameo from Quentin Tarantino.

'Sukiyaki Western Django is a rare pearl of a film that succeeds in effortlessly blending influences to rejuvenate the Western genre,' said Celluloid head Hengameh Panahi. 'Starting from Shakespeare's War of the Roses to the classic Spaghetti western Django but never forgetting it's Japanese roots recalling films like Ran. The film is on an epic scale, a sublime, cinematic visual treat with amazing agile gunplay, almost like a martial art. Being a parody, It's hilarious, modern, insolent and very unique. Because all this works so well in harmony, it demonstrates that Miike is an inventive director at the height of his powers.'

Also on Celluloid's autumn festival slate are Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, Takeshi Kitano's Glory To The Filmmaker!, Asif Kapadia's Far North, Alan Ball's Nothing Is Private, Paolo Barzman's Emotional Arithmetic, Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai's Mad Detective, and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely.

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