Robert Ben Garant has been tapped to pen Tux, a feature film adaption of Japaneese graphic novel Tuxedo Gin. It took two years for the studio to close the rights to the Tokihiko Matsuura-created Japanese property, which were controlled by Shogakukan in Japan and VIZ Media in the US, according to Deadline. Now run by Rich Ross and Sean Bailey, Disney actually began talks to acquire the rights prior to the duo taking over. Garant will also executive produce along with Isamu Kamei.
The protagonist of the film is a young street fighter who, after falling into a coma, learns that he has lived such a selfish life he only has enough karma points to be reincarnated as a small animal. Humiliatingly trapped in the body of a chin-strap penguin, he needs to do enough good deeds to get his body back and save the girl he loves. Talking animals is an element Ross and Bailey have been steering the Disney ship away from, reports Deadline. But they’ve made an exception here as the novel follows a “gritty storyline.”
