Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones and rising Japanese actress Eriko Hatsune star in the political thriller with romantic undertones set around the time of the Japanese surrender during the second world war. Sierra/Affinity will handle international sales while CAA represents North American rights.

Fox will play General Bonner Fellers, an American expert on Japan who investigates whether Emperor Hirohito should be tried for war crimes. In the course of his duty Fellers attempts to relocate a lost love played by Hatsune. Jones is on board as Supreme Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur.

Peter Webber is directing from a screenplay by David Klass and Vera Blasi and production is underway in New Zealand and scheduled to move to Japan in late March.

Yoko Narahashi, Gary Foster, Eugene Nomura and Russ Krasnoff are producing. Emperor is a co-production between Fellers Film and Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment.

“We are proud to be bringing a film of this calibre to the international marketplace,” Sierra/Affinity CEO Nick Meyer (pictured) said. “The talent of Peter Webber is already greatly apparent as he shapes this romance against the backdrop of a pivotal period in history.”

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