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Viz’s live-action film arm will be part-owner of a movie theater in a J-Pop-focused shopping center in San Francisco’s Japan Town. Sounds like a great expansion business for them to cross-market their releases. Press release follows.

VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced that it has become an owner of an art-house movie theatre set to open in winter 2008/2009 in the heart of San Francisco’s Japan Town, a prominent and historical sightseeing spot in the San Francisco Bay Area. The theatre will specialize in screening Japanese films and anime.

This 150-seat movie theatre, which is expected to open in winter 2008/2009, will be the main attraction within a multi-boutique commercial building called The J-Pop Center (for Japanese Pop culture) that will also house a bookstore, café and several hip fashion boutiques originated in Tokyo. The complex will be a popular destination for the local Bay Area community as well as tourists to experience the kawaii or “cute and cool” J-Pop culture, which has become increasingly popular across North America in the wake of the momentum behind anime and manga.

Fully equipped with THX® sound system and cutting edge film as well as digital projection systems, the theatre will screen a diverse collection of Japanese live action and animated titles, many of which have been little-seen outside Japan or at select film festivals.

VIZ Pictures has partnered with the venue as an extension of its mission to be a preeminent distributor and exhibitor of Japan’s hottest visual entertainment. The company has to-date released a diverse collection of critically acclaimed Japanese films, both theatrically and on DVD, including HULA GIRLS, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, LINDA LINDA LINDA, TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO, THE TASTE OF TEA and more.

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