All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW), Japanese production company Wilco Co and Los Angeles-based Depth Of Field will adapt, develop and produce the Japanese horror thriller for the English-language market.

Naoki Hashimoto wrote, produced and directed the original film in 2011 as Saitai, which Screened at the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival.

Hashimoto is working with Depth Of Field partner and producer Andrew Miano and producer and creative executive Dan Balgoyen on the project.

The story has been reconfigured to centre on a suburban mother who invites a stranger into the family, only to learn the young woman may be the daughter she secretly abandoned at birth.

Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath will adapt the screenplay.

“Our newest endeavor, Birthright, not only marks the establishment of a new and valued relationship with Naoki Hashimoto’s Wilco, but the continuation of a collaborative partnering with Depth Of Field,” said ANEW’s svp of creative affairs Annmarie Bailey. 

“It is extremely gratifying to see Saitai be provided the opportunity to achieve commercial success internationally, even though it wasn’t why I originally made this project,” said Hashimoto.

“I have long believed Japanese culture deserves a wider audience, so I am looking forward to collaborating with the Depth Of Field team to adapt this story into English and I appreciate the ANEW’s passion in bringing Japanese stories to a global audience.”