Petersen notes that his representatives first introduced him to the story through Kon’s anime film: “And I saw it and bingo, I thought this is fantastic. This is a great piece. That will be a very very interesting movie.” Although he plans to make the story a little more accessible for a mainstream audience, he compares the story to The Matrix in its scope.

We’ve learned THE NEVERENDING STORY director Wolfgang Petersen wants to adapt Satoshi Kon’s (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent) anime masterpiece PAPRIKA into a live-action affair. The first quote out of his mouth is to make it “a little more accessible.” Just count the ways this can go wrong.

PAPRIKA is one of those tales that lends itself to the limitless possibilities of animation. While the NEVERENDING STORY film was a favorite of ours growing up, we’d rather Peterson focus on some other project. It’d be nigh impossible to improve upon Kon’s perfection.

Check out PAPRIKA’s opening sequence which is, by our reckoning, in the top 5 best film opening sequences of all time below the cut.

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