SCREEN DAILY – Shaked Berenson’s LA-based distribution and sales company Entertainment Squad has acquired worldwide rights to the dramatic thriller Root Letter from Japan’s Ammo Inc. and California-based AMMO Entertainment and will launch international sales in Toronto.

Emmy-nominated Sonja O’Hara (Mid-Century, Doomsday) directed from David Ebeltoft’s adapted screenplay based on the video game from Kadokawa Games.

Danny Ramirez from Top Gun: Maverick stars as Carlos, an impoverished teen, who sets off to help an old school pen pal, Sarah, who tells him she has killed someone.

Carlos uncovers a criminal plot involving Sarah’s fraught group of friends and the secret which has led to Sarah’s disappearance.

Keana Marie also stars and the cast includes Mark St. Cyr and Lydia Hearst. AMMO Entertainment and Ammo Inc. produced and financed, with AMMO Entertainment’s Annmarie Sairrino, Ammo’s Moeko Suzuki, and Kat McPhee serving as producers.

Entertainment Squad will release Root Letter in select theatres in New York and Los Angeles and on major VoD platforms on September 1. CEO Berenson negotiated the deal with AMMO Entertainment and Ammo Inc.

O’Hara said, “I was drawn to David Ebeltoft’s Root Letter script for its disturbing and hyper-realistic depiction of the opioid crisis. It was an uncomfortable read that left me with a sense of dread that continued to haunt me. I immediately knew I had to direct it. As an immigrant myself, I was moved by Carlos’s journey and Danny Ramirez brought such pathos to the role. I can’t think of a more relevant time to share this urgent story with the world.”

Ammo Entertainment CEO Sairrino added, “I’m especially proud that all three producers on our film are women. We were so fortunate to have worked with such an amazing group of rising talents, including our leading actress, Keana Marie. She captivated us from the first audition onward; as soon as we heard her, we knew we had found our Sarah. And we are grateful to Shaked Berenson and Entertainment Squad for their guidance in bringing this film to audiences. We hope that everyone, including the many fans of the original Japanese video game, will enjoy this thrilling and emotional story.”

AMMO Entertainment and Ammo Inc.’s J-Horror adaptation Room 203 was licensed for global release by Voltage Pictures and distributed in the US by Vertical Entertainment earlier in 2022.

Among Entertainment Squad’s recent films are Paper Spiders starring Lili Taylor, Stefanie LaVie Owens, and Peyton List and the Daytime Emmy nominated limited series Doomsday.

ANIME NEWS NETWORK – Akatsuki Inc. announced on June 7 that it has handed over the rights of the live-action film adaptation of Kadokawa Games’ √Letter (pronounced “Root Letter”) game to AMMO (based in Tokyo) and AMMO Entertainment (based in California).

Akatsuki Entertainment USA announced the film in November 2018. Sonja O’Hara is directing the film. David Ebeltoft wrote the screenplay. Annmarie Sairrino, Moeko Suzuki, and Kat McPhee are producing the film.

The film will star Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick), Keana Marie (Huge in France), Lydia Hearst (The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Breon Pugh (Cloak & Dagger), and Mark St. Cyr (High School Musical: The Musical – The Series).

AMMO stated that it has finished production on the film, and Akatsuki Entertainment added that the project is still “in progress.” AMMO Entertainment is currently negotiating with potential distributors for the film.

The film’s website describes the story:
After Carlos, a young man struggling with poverty and a fractured home, receives a desperate note from Sarah, a pen pal he lost touch with a year earlier, he uses her letters as a guide to solve the mystery of her disappearance, as well as crimes she may have been a part of.

Akatsuki Inc. stated it is has “[redefined] itself as an IP producer with emphasis on games” with its 10th anniversary in 2020, and has handed over the management and execution of √Letter and its other Hollywood film project Room 203 to AMMO Entertainment. AMMO Entertainment is a Tokyo-based entertainment production company that is focusing on building “strategic partnerships between Hollywood and Japanese companies to acquire, develop and produce commercially driven intellectual properties including Japanese manga and anime.” Former Akatsuki Entertainment officers founded AMMO and AMMO Entertainment.

The √Letter mystery visual novel shipped in June 2016 in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Rice Digital and PQube released the game in Europe in October 2016, and in North America in November 2016. Kadokawa Games released the game on PC via Steam in July 2017 and for iOS and Android in August 2017.

LovePlus character designer Tarō Minoboshi planned and designed the characters. Dario Fuji handled the scenario, while Takashi Nitta composed the music. Yoshimi Yasuda produced the game, and Zin Hasegawa directed the game.

The √Letter Last Answer live-action game project, which is a re-release of √Letter, launched for the PS4, PS Vita, and Nintendo Switch in December 2018. The game included an alternative live-action “Drama Mode” and four new “Explanation” scenarios.

The game’s new “Drama Mode” replaces Tarō Minoboshi’s illustrations in the original game with live-action photographs from 90 actors, and the background illustrations based on actual Shimane prefecture locations have also been replaced with photographs of the real-life locations. Players can switch between the original illustrations and the “Drama Mode” photographs.