Netflix And Toho Rebooting Ishiro Honda’s Sci-Fi Caper ‘The Human Vapor’ With ‘Train To Busan’ Director
For those who have heard the name Ishiro Honda, the first thing that comes to mind is Godzilla. Mothra and Rodan also might, but most wouldn’t think of titles like The Mysterians, Dogora, or Space Amoeba. And even fewer will remember his corny man-turned-monster flicks.
Honda directed an esoteric trilogy of disconnected films about people gaining strange powers. Referred to as the Transforming Human Series or “Henshin Ningen Shirīzu,” it has a 1960 entry that Netflix is teaming with Toho to readapt.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, The Human Vapor is being turned into a live-action series, marking the first collaboration between the streaming content producer and Japan’s studio titan. And that’s just the beginning.
The creative team is a blend of Japanese and Korean talent who are among the best. Train to Busan filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho will co-write and executive produce, overseeing Shinzo Katayama who will direct. Shun Oguri (Ren Serizawa in Godzilla vs. Kong) and Yu Aoi (Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter) will star.
The Human Vapor is a sci-fi heist thriller that tells the story of a thief who gains the ability to turn into cloudy fumes after radiation exposure. It sounds like the plot of a throwaway Lon Chaney, Jr., movie but it’s regarded as a benchmark for its effects and themes.
Honda’s film is the last in the trilogy and was the one that “grabbed” Yeon when Toho approached him with the idea of reimagining something. “It is a 1960 film, but its sci-fi expressions are still impressively skillful,” he said. “I believed that if it were reborn with modern visuals, it would be truly fascinating.”
Katayama weighed in, saying, “I knew about The Human Vapor but hadn’t seen it until recently. Watching it, I was intrigued by its blend of human drama and romantic elements, despite featuring an absurd creature like the Human Vapor.”
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He added, “I saw the potential to modernize this classic special effects piece with today’s VFX CG and incorporate human drama to make it a very compelling work.”
According to THR, Katayama and Yeon’s version will probably take a year to complete, and they will utilize state-of-the-art VFX. “I believe we will deliver visuals that have never been seen before,” Katayama said.
The Human Vapor is hard to track down on streaming but it was released on Region 1 DVD in 2002, and then on Region A Blu-ray in a two-disc set that includes the rest of The Transforming Human series which is rounded out by The H-Man and The Secret of the Telegian.
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