Two-time Oscar winner Chloé Zhao and producer Nicolas Gonda have teamed up to launch Kodansha Studios, a new international film and television studio specialising in high-quality live-action adaptations of popular manga titles.

The studio will draw on the extensive manga stock of Kodansha - one of the leading Japanese publishing houses behind classics such as Akira and Attack on Titan. Adaptations from the genres of romance, drama, horror as well as action and fantasy blockbusters are planned. Kodansha Studios aims to bring international filmmakers together with renowned manga authors to develop and realise high-quality productions.

Chloé Zhao takes on the role of Chief Creative Officer, Nicolas Gonda is President and Chief Operations Officer of the new studio. Their production company Book of Shadows, which was founded in 2022, will remain an independent entity.

Yoshinobu Noma, CEO of Kodansha, commented: "With our mission 'Inspire Impossible Stories', we want to make the diverse narratives from Japan accessible globally. The establishment of Kodansha Studios marks an important step in the collaboration between Japanese publishers and Hollywood and emphasises our commitment to direct partnerships with international artists and studios."

Zhao explained: "I grew up with manga and drew it myself. The stories and characters have many fans worldwide, with whom I feel deeply connected. Kodansha has an unrivalled library of works by great storytellers. By connecting these authors with international filmmakers, we can bring extraordinary stories to life for a global audience."

Kodansha was founded in 1909 and now distributes more than 4,000 titles in over 40 countries. Besides Akira and Attack on Titan also include Tokyo Revengers, Blue Lock, Initial D, The Seven Deadly Sins and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime to the portfolio of the publishing house, whose works have sold over half a billion copies worldwide.

Chloé Zhao, born in Beijing, won for her film Nomadland three Oscars - for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actress - as well as numerous international awards. She also directed Eternals for Marvel Studios and won with The Rider and Songs My Brothers Taught Me further festival prizes. Most recently she directed Hamnetwhich won the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Gonda was previously Chief Content Officer at Meow Wolf, a leading platform for immersive art projects, and regularly works with companies such as Disney, Warner Bros, Epic Games, Roblox and MGM Resorts. His previous productions include over 20 films, including Terrence Malick's Oscar-nominated The Tree of Life. He is currently executive producer of the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer-series.