Katsuyuki Motohiro's martial arts action comedy Shaolin Girl has sold to eight Asian territories, co-producer Fuji TV announced today.

Gaga Communications, which is handling international sales on the film, has closed deals with Bill Kong's Edko Films for Hong Kong and Macau, San-Byte Hong Kong Co for Taiwan, Sahamongkol Film International for Thailand and Festive Films for rights in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

The deals follow a reported flood of offers from over 50 companies in North America and Europe. Gaga is aiming to close further deals at the upcoming Cannes market.

Co-produced by Fuji TV motion picture head Chihiro Kameyama (Bayside Shakedown series) and actor-filmmaker Stephen Chow (CJ7), the film stars Kou Shibasaki as a Shaolin kung-fu expert who ends up joining a girl's lacrosse team. The film also stars Toru Nakamura, Yosuke Eguchi, Takashi Okamura, Kitty Zhang, Lam Chi Chung and Kai Man Tin.

Kong commented on the acquisition: 'Shaolin Girl is a great entertainment movie. The film is sure to be well accepted everywhere. I may offer a role to Ms Shibasaki for future films.'

Shaolin Girl opened on April 26 domestically on 318 screens, with distributor Toho predicting a final tally of $19.13m (Y2bn) at the box office.

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