Popular character actor Fumiyo Kohinata will take on the lead role played by Paul Giamatti in the original film. He will be joined by Katsuhisa Namase, Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi and Kyoka Suzuki.
The revised plot sees Kohinata travelling to the US to attend the wedding of his American-based friend (Namase), preceded by one last road trip into California wine country. The supporting cast members are reportedly American with dialogue in both languages.
Cellin Gluck will make his feature directing debut. Gluck has long been active as an assistant director, second unit director, unit production manager and line producer in both Hollywood and Japan on films such as Transformers, Memoirs Of A Geisha and Midnight Eagle.
As reported in May on Screendaily.com, the project was first announced at this year's Cannes film festival, where Fox International Pictures (FIP) signed a production deal with Fuji TV to produce a Japanese language remake. The deal marks the first collaboration between the two companies.
Sideways continues FIP's ramping up of local language production in the territory. Fox Japan is also in production on dramatic feature Gunjo (Ultramarine), directed by Yosuke Nakagawa and starring Masami Nagasawa. As with Sideways, Fox plans to distribute the film internationally.
Sideways is slated for a fall 2009 release through 20th Century Fox.
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