Hiroyu Oku’s action-packed science fiction seinen manga series Gantz is being made into two special effects-heavy live action films, the first of which is due to debut in Japan in the spring of 2011.  Shinsuke Sato (The Princess Blade) will direct the Gantz films, which will star Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Ken’ichi Matsuyama (Death Note).  Dark Horse is publishing the erotically-charged Gantz manga with its potent mixture of sex and violence here in the U.S. (Volume #8 is due out in December—the ongoing series has reached 26 volumes in Japan).  Two 13-episode Gantz anime series were produced by Gonzo and distributed in the U.S. by ADV.

Ninomiya and Matsuyama will play two teenagers who die in a subway accident and are forced to participate in a posthumous “game” in which they track down and kill aliens at the behest of a featureless black sphere known as “Gantz.”

According to the Anime News Network, the two Gantz films have been budgeted at $45 million, a generous budget that indicates that they are going to be prestige productions.