It’s been announced today that a live action movie adaptation of XXXHOLiC directed by renowned director Mika Ninagawa is in production.

The movie, entitled ホリック xxxHOLiC, will open in theaters across Japan on April 29, 2022.

Actress Kou Shibasaki was cast to play Yuuko Ichihara, while Kimihiro Watanuki will be played by actor Kamiki Ryunosuke.

Here are the three promotional pictures released so far:

STAFF

Direction: Mika Ninagawa
Original work: CLAMP
Script: Erika Yoshida

CAST

Yuuko Ichihara: Kou Shibasaki
Kimihiro Watanuki: Kamiki Ryunosuke

Official website: https://xxxholic-movie.asmik-ace.co.jp
Official Twitter: @xxxHOLiC_movie
Official instagram: @holic_movie.official

Mika Ninagawa is a famous award winning Japanese photographer and director. She is known for her brightly colored photographs of flowers, goldfish, and the city of Tokyo. She made her debut as movie director in 2007 with Sakuran, followed by Helter Skelter in 2012, both of which were also originally manga series. In 2019, she released two movies based on Japanese novels, Diner and Ningen Shikkaku. In 2020, she directed her first TV series, Netflix’s FOLLOWERS. XXXHOLiC will be her fifth theatrical movie.

Here’s a comment from director Mika Ninagawa:

10 years have passed since the very first meeting that I’ve said “I wanna make a XXXHOLiC movie!”. It is finally finished after getting over a variation of things.

Now that is finished, the fact it will be released now, it sort of feel like “hitsuzen” (inevitable).

We have experiecied a moment in which the world changed. Because of that, is that what’s inside “XXXHOLiC” soaks in more inside us now. “In this world everyone is connected to someone, and shares something. You are the one making the choice, and the future is given in each one of those decissions.”

I think I’ve reached a new expression, guided by the force that the original work has. It’s finished.
Go watch it in the cinemas.

(thank you Claudio-san for the translation!)

With this, XXXHOLiC becomes the first CLAMP work to have a live action movie opening on theaters (the Tokyo Babylon live action was released straight to VHS). XXXHOLiC also maintains its title of CLAMP work with the most variety of media adaptations, having had an animation movie, two TV Anime seasons, four OADs, a live action TV Drama, a live stage reading drama, a musical stage play, several audio dramas (CDs and PLAYBUTTON), a novel, a game and now a live action theatrical movie.

Source: CLAMP-NET.COM, Fashion Press.

I was super excited when I saw this news! I’ve been a huge fan of Mika Ninagawa for years and for years I have been dreaming about her directing a live action of a CLAMP manga. I always thought that XXXHOLiC was a strong candidate but after the TV Drama, my hopes were down a little. I still kept hoping that she would somehow collaborate with CLAMP on something else or something original. Fast forward to 10 years later and here we are!

It’s interesting that Mika said it’s been around 10 years since she had the first meeting about wanting to work with XXXHOLiC. This goes back around the time the TV Drama was released. Coincidence? I think not.

I was of course hoping that Ohkawa-sensei would have written the script, but at least the scriptwriter is a woman. Both director and scriptwriters are women and that is a very good thing.

Still, I am very curious to know about what was CLAMP’s involvement in all this. The movie is finished (it’s probably in post-production stage now) so now it’s not a matter of hoping that CLAMP will be more involved, but rather just how much were CLAMP involved. So far, they haven’t been very vocal about the announcement on social media and I find that a little concerning (it strangely reminds me of their behavior during the Tokyo Babylon 2021 days). I hope they will be more vocal about this in the coming days, after all, they have always admired Ninagawa’s work.

Speaking of Ninagawa, she is one of the biggest names in Japanese pop culture at the moment. She is very mainstream and yet highly artistic and has a massive fanbase who is very supportive of her work. This will definitely attract both existing and new audiences.

I am really happy with this collaboration that I believe is nothing but worthy of CLAMP and XXXHOLiC. I cannot think of a better person to translate the XXXHOLiC atmosphere than Mika Ninagawa. I am not very familiar with the actress, but she is gorgeous and apparently extremely popular as well.

This is looking very promising!

PS: Isn’t now a great timing to resume XXXHOLiC Rei?