Viz Pictures to distribute 'Maiko'

Film to be released in the U.S. in March

By MARK SCHILLING

San Francisco-based Viz Pictures will distrib "Maiko Haaaan!!!," Kankuro Kudo's hit laffer about a salaryman obsessed with geisha, according to Japanese press reports.

The distrib, which has also handled such Japanese live-action titles as "Train Man" and "Kamikaze Girls," will release the pic in March in five U.S. cities, including New York and San Francisco, followed by a rollout to other venues.

Produced by the Nippon Television Network and released in Japan in June by Toho, the pic follows the adventures of a dweeby salaryman (Sadawo Abe) as he tries to penetrate the notoriously closed Kyoto geisha world. Pic also stars Kou Shibasaki as an office-clerk-turned-apprentice-geisha and Shinichi Tsutsumi as a snarky geisha expert.

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