Lupin III CGI Movie Revealed: Watch The Trailer

The late Monkey Punch's creation Lupin III has starred in five decades worth of animated series, movies and TV specials. Back in January, a new feature release was announced for winter 2019. This week it was revealed that it was going to be something new for the franchise: it's the first Lupin CGI movie

The somewhat confusingly titled Lupin III : The First is written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who directed Stand By Me Doraemon and the upcoming Dragon Quest: Your Story. The film is due to open on December 6 in Japan.

The trailer starts with a journey through Lupin's history, showing his manga and 2D animated incarnations- before revealing him in his new CG form. Then the trailer really kicks off. Old school fans concerned about the switch to 3D should be quickly won over- this is utterly quintessential Lupin. The full cast is here- Jingen, Fujiko, Goemon and Zenigata, and all brought into the third dimension beautifully. It also features all the classic iconic elements of the series- Lupin's car, gun, and of course- that wonderfully memorable theme tune!

Making the jump from 2D to 3D is tricky, but this looks like one of the best examples to come out of Japan. It's done this by preserving the original cartoony feel. It's not really clear what the plot is from this (Japanese language) trailer, but it looks every inch a classic Lupin caper.

To anyone who remains unconvinced and would prefer that the gentleman thief sticks to two dimensions- there's no sign of that going away either. The most recent film in the franchise, Lupin III: Fujiko's Lie opened in Japan in May.

This is positively dripping in old-school cool, and we hope somebody picks this up for English-language release ASAP.

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