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TRISTAR PICTURES TO RELEASE A NEW SUBTITLED VERSION OF OSAMU TEZUKA'S "METROPOLIS" ON JANUARY 25, 2002 FROM FAMED ANIME LEGENDS RINTARO AND KATSUHIRO OTOMO

(Press Release)

Tristar Pictures is proud to announce that Osamu Tezuka's METROPOLIS, directed by Rintaro ("X," "Galaxy Express 999") and written by anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo ("Akira"), will open on January 25 in the top 10 markets in the US and Canada. Based on the classic manga (comic) by Osamu Tezuka, the Godfather of Anime and Manga, METROPOLIS was brought to the screen by two of the most respected figures in Japanese animation today: Katsuhiro Otomo and Rintaro. In fact, Rintaro began his career working for Tezuka on his popular "Astro Boy" (Tetsuwan Atom) television series.

In the late 1940s, long before "Astro Boy" and "Kimba the White Lion" established Osamu Tezuka as one of the most influential animators of all time, the legendary illustrator created the classic manga "Metropolis."  Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots, the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society.  Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young girl. Tima is a new top-of the-line android created to succeed the leader of Metropolis. When they locate them, Shunsaku quickly comes to realize that the eccentric scientist is beyond their reach, protected by a powerful man and his fierce desire to reclaim a tragic figure from his past.

More than fifty years since it was first imagined, Tezuka's vision of the inability of scientific progress to fulfill basic human needs -- in spite of its mechanizing even the most fundamental aspects of life -- confirms him as a prophet as well as a fabulist. Directed by Rintaro and written by Otomo, the retro-futurism of the story - as well as its precautionary tale -- is spectacularly rendered in its visual style, combining the best in Japanese cel animation with the latest in digital technology. METROPOLIS has been selected to be shown at a number of international film festivals including Locarno, Sitges and Hamburg.

Tristar Pictures will release Metropolis on January 25, 2002 in New York and Los Angeles at the Landmark Nuart and in Orange County at the University Edwards. Metropolis is 107 minutes long and is not rated.