Justin Lin set to direct 'One Punch Man' film adaptation

LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker Justin Lin is attached to direct an upcoming film adaptation of the popular manga 'One Punch Man'.

Lin will direct the film based on a script from 'Venom' and 'Jumanji: The Next Level' screenwriters Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner. Sony Pictures is backing the film, and Lin will produce alongside Avi and Ari Arad of Arad Productions, reports 'Variety'.

'One Punch Man' will be Lin's first project following the announcement this April that he exited directing 'Fast X', the latest film in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise.

He'd previously directed four films for the franchise, starting with 2006's 'Tokyo Drift', and also helmed the 2018 film 'Star Trek Beyond'.

Created by Japanese artist ONE as a webcomic in 2009, 'One Punch Man' focuses on Saitama, an average, unemployed man who trains to become a superhero, and develops the ability to defeat any opponent -- no matter how powerful -- with a single punch.

Saitama's incredible power comes at the cost of any real excitement in his life, which causes him to become bored and apathetic even as he continually saves the world from incredible danger. The series follows Saitama as he joins the Hero Association, which employs superhumans to fight evil, in the hope of finding a foe that can finally pose a real challenge to him.

After its debut in 2009, 'One Punch Man' went viral and received a remake in manga format in the Japanese magazine Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump Next, with illustrations by Yusuke Murata. The manga has proven extremely popular, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide.

Since 2015, Viz Media has published an English translation of the manga, which made the New York Times bestsellers list.

The manga has already been adapted into an anime series produced first by Madhouse in 2015, then by J.C.Staff in 2019, and it recently inspired a video game adaptation for console and mobile devices. The manga has been acclaimed for its quirky sense of humour and sendup of common superhero tropes, receiving nominations for an Eisner Award in 2015 and a Harvey Award in 2016.

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