Back in 1997, Hollywood was on the cusp of what could have been one of the most ambitious live-action anime adaptations ever attempted. The project? A big-budget reimagining of the beloved Japanese manga and anime franchise Lupin the Third—and at its center, none other than comedic powerhouse Jim Carrey, poised to don the role of the world’s most charming master thief. The director’s chair was to be filled by Hong Kong cinema legend Tsui Hark, with a screenplay penned by Peter Briggs, the English writer best known for co-writing Hellboy (2004). But as fate would have it, the film never made it past the script stage, leaving fans to wonder what might have been if the stars had aligned.
According to multiple reports, including a detailed social media post by Peter Briggs himself, the project’s collapse was due to a loss of adaptation rights by producer Alex Ho. Briggs recounted, “I was doing a movie with Tsui Hark (and Oliver Stone’s producer, A. Kitman Ho), back in 1997. A live action adaptation of ‘Lupin III’, that we would have done with Jim Carrey. Alex Ho (lovely, lovely man) ended up losing the rights, so it never happened. Craziest screenplay I ever wrote!” (as cited by ScreenRant and CBR).
For anime and manga fans, this revelation is both tantalizing and bittersweet. Lupin the Third, created by Monkey Punch and first serialized between 1967 and 1969, follows the escapades of Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of the legendary French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin from Maurice Leblanc’s novels. Over the decades, Lupin and his colorful crew—sharpshooter Jigen, swordsman Goemon, femme fatale Fujiko, and the dogged Inspector Zenigata—have become icons of Japanese pop culture. The franchise is perhaps best known in the West for the 1979 film Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, which marked Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial debut and is frequently cited as one of the greatest animated films of all time.
Briggs’s script, as described in his Bluesky post, was nothing short of audacious. He revealed, “There are bits of everything from Lupin in there. Bits of [The Secret of] Mamo, ‘Wings Of Death – Albatross,’ Cagliostro. But a big, BIG storyline. No Lupin animated has even come close to the scale of craziness we had in our screenplay. I was surprised when I saw Lupin III: The First. Some of our stuff was in it. [...] It had a flashback heist in Paris with Lupin’s Pop, a theft from the White House, a scene set in Antarctica with Fujiko, the theft of the Crown Jewels in London by robots, a fight in an underground lair in Paris, another heist in Venice, robots vs Lupin car chase in Morocco, Ninjas vs Goemon in a monastery, an Illuminati Flying Saucer abducting the Orient Express, an INSANE seaplane climax on Mount Everest... and that barely scratches the surface. It was BIG. I wrote it at the same time I was doing Hellboy, and it nearly gave me a nervous breakdown!” (as reported by CBR).
Jim Carrey, then at the height of his career following films like The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Liar Liar, was the sole actor considered for the role of Lupin. Briggs explained, “Carrey was, I think, the only actor considered.” Fans and commentators alike have since noted that Carrey’s elastic, cartoonish energy would have made him an inspired choice for the role—Lupin’s antics and physical comedy are legendary, and Carrey’s unique blend of slapstick and charisma seemed tailor-made for the part.
The creative team behind the project was equally impressive. Tsui Hark, a towering figure in Hong Kong cinema, is renowned for his ability to blend action and comedy, as seen in the Once Upon a Time in China series. Producer A. Kitman Ho, a frequent collaborator with Oliver Stone, brought a wealth of Hollywood experience. The combination of East and West—Hong Kong action sensibilities, Hollywood spectacle, and Japanese source material—promised a cultural fusion rarely seen in late-90s cinema.
But the project’s promise was dashed when Alex Ho, who had secured the rights to Lupin III, lost them before production could begin. As a result, the movie was shelved indefinitely. Briggs described this as a significant loss, noting that the film “could have made Lupin the Third a bigger name outside of Japan” (as reported by ScreenRant). At that time, anime and manga were only beginning to make significant inroads into Western pop culture, and a successful adaptation could have paved the way for more faithful and ambitious live-action remakes.
The history of live-action anime adaptations is, to put it kindly, checkered. Films like Dragonball: Evolution have become cautionary tales, and many fans are wary of Hollywood’s ability to capture the spirit of their favorite Japanese properties. Yet, as ScreenRant notes, there’s every reason to believe that the Carrey-led Lupin could have bucked the trend. “Jim Carrey as a live-action Lupin is literally perfect casting given the man’s reputation as a living cartoon. In addition to that, Tsui Hark is an accomplished director who knows how to fuse comedy and action like few others. Their talents, combined with the allegedly wild script from Briggs, had a big chance of working in a way most live-action anime adaptations don’t.”
Briggs himself has since noticed echoes of his unmade screenplay in later Lupin projects. In particular, he pointed to the 2019 CG-animated film Lupin III: The First, which premiered in Japan on December 6, 2019. “Some of our stuff was in it,” Briggs remarked, suggesting that the spirit of his wild ideas lives on, at least in part, in the franchise’s ongoing evolution.
There have, of course, been other live-action Lupin III adaptations. The first was the 1974 Japanese film Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy, starring Yūki Meguro. More recently, the 2014 film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and starring Shun Oguri brought the character to a new generation, and a 2015 musical adaptation by the all-female Takarazuka Revue troupe added yet another twist. Still, none have matched the scale or international ambition of the scrapped Carrey project.
Today, Jim Carrey is best known to younger audiences as Dr. Robotnik (Eggman) in the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies for Paramount Pictures. While his days as a youthful Lupin may be behind him, the tantalizing “what if” of his near-miss with the anime world remains. As for Peter Briggs, his “craziest screenplay” will likely be the stuff of legend among both anime fans and cinephiles for years to come.
Sometimes, the most intriguing stories are the ones that never make it to the screen. The lost Lupin the Third adaptation is a reminder of Hollywood’s wild ambitions—and the tantalizing possibilities that slip through its fingers.
