Takashi Miike adapted the manga/anime Nintama Rantarō for release in Japan this summer.  By the time it reached the New York Asian Film Festival, the family-friendly comedy was excitably retitled Ninja Kids!!!.  The title stands out among the many scripts that flow through the studio system, and so the property is well on its way to an American remake.  THR hears negotiations are underway with "a major production company."  Warner Bros. was involved with the Japanese distribution, so the smart money says Ninja Kids!!! ends up there.

The story centers on a first grader sent to ninja school by his lower class parents, "who hope that one day he’ll grow up to be a respectable middle class ninja."  Watch the trailer for Miike's adaptation after the jump.  True to the title, it includes ninjas, kids, and at least three exclamation points worth of style.

Here's the synopsis courtesy of the NYAFF:

This big budget, big screen version of popular Japanese kid’s show Rantaro the Ninja Boy (running for 1,437 episodes and counting!) this is like Harry Potter if Harry Potter was a ninja who hid underground and killed people with bamboo darts and ninja bombs. Young Rantaro is from a family of low class ninjas and he’s sent off to first grade at Ninja School by his parents who hope that one day he’ll grow up to be a respectable middle class ninja. But he’s hardly at school for five minutes when a classmate – literally – has the snot beaten out of him, the headmaster starts exploding and more wild and wooly ninja tricks than you can hit with a throwing star are zipping off the screen.

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