Amblin Television Options Rights to Akira Kurosawa's Groundbreaking, Iconic Film "Rashomon" as Basis for New Dramatic Mystery Thriller Series

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Amblin Television announced today that it has optioned the rights to RASHOMON, Akira Kurosawa's groundbreaking, iconic film, as the basis for a new dramatic mystery thriller series.

Each season of the 10-episode series will focus on a singular event told from multiple points of view where each of the main characters provides a unique and different perspective of the event based on their specific and subjective point of view. Only by watching each of the episodes, and seeing the differing character's perspectives, will the audience come away with the truth behind the mystery.

Amblin TV's Co-Presidents, Darryl Frank ("The Americans," "The Haunting of Hill House") and Justin Falvey ("The Americans," "The Haunting of Hill House"), along with Atmosphere's Mark Canton ("Power"), and Leigh Ann Burton from Opus 7 are executive producers. David Hopwood from Atmosphere also executive produces.

"We couldn't be more excited to adapt this extraordinary film as the foundation for a new dramatic mystery thriller series," said Frank and Falvey. "It will explore the boundaries of truth and how different perspectives don't often reveal the same reality," said Frank and Falvey. "We also couldn't be happier to be in business with Mark, Leigh Ann, and David, who are great producers and partners."

"We can't wait to dig in with Justin and Darryl and everyone at Amblin as we adapt this iconic title for television. We feel this storytelling approach and the way it explores truth and reality is especially timely in today's world," said Mark Canton of Atmosphere.

"It has been an honor to work with the Kurosawa Estate, and to partner with Amblin Television and Mark Canton, to create a series inspired by 'Rashomon,' written by Akira Kurosawa. I can think of no better way to introduce today's television audience to the legacy of this brilliant and esteemed filmmaker," said Leigh Ann Burton of Opus 7.

About Amblin Television

Amblin Television, a long-time leader in quality programming, is a division of Amblin Partners, a content creation company led by Steven Spielberg. Amblin Television's co-presidents, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, oversee all development, production and programming for the company. Amblin Television currently has nine series in various stages of production, including "Bull" for CBS, "Roswell, New Mexico" for the CW, the adaptation of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" for Netflix, "Amazing Stories" for Apple, "Halo" for Showtime, "Cortes and Moctezuma" for Amazon, "Animaniacs" for Hulu, "Why We Hate" for Discovery, and pilot "Resident Alien" for SYFY.

Some of Amblin Television's previous credits include the Emmy Award-winning drama "The Americans" for FX, Emmy-nominated HBO movie "All The Way" starring Bryan Cranston, "Smash" for NBC, "Under the Dome" for CBS, "Falling Skies" for TNT, "The Borgias" and "The United States of Tara" for Showtime, "Las Vegas" for NBC, and the Rev Run and Justine Simmons family sitcom "All About the Washingtons" on Netflix.

About Atmosphere

Founded in late 2003 by iconic entertainment industry executive and producer Mark Canton, Atmosphere Entertainment MM, LLC, develops and produces theatrical motion pictures and television programming that will appeal to audiences throughout the world.

Over the past few years Atmosphere Entertainment has produced big budget studio films such as 300, Immortals, 300: Rise of an Empire, Den of Thieves, Letters to Juliet and The Spiderwick Chronicles. The company is currently in advance development on several major franchises, most notably Robotech with Andr�s Muschieti, set to direct for Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Red Sonja, which is being produced alongside Courtney Solomon and Millennium's Avi Lerner and Joe Gatta.

Active in the television arena, Atmosphere has the hit series Power on Starz, which the company created along with Courtney Kemp and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. Now shooting its sixth season, it is the highest rated series on the network.