Martial arts actor not starring in purported Tekken film (update)

Update: Kane Kosugi is not starring in a Tekken prequel named A Man Called X; instead, he will appear in a non-Tekken-related film that has the working title of "Agent X." Kosugi's website, which is run by Destiny Production, his management company, issued a correction on Jan. 14 and apologized for the incorrect information.

A representative for Namco Bandai Games America told Polygon that the company has "no official comments to share regarding this project."

Original story: Tekken: A Man Called X, a new live-action film based on Namco's Tekken franchise of fighting games, is in development and will star martial artist Kane Kosugi, reports Cinema Today.

Kosugi announced his participation in A Man Called X on his website last month, saying that he will play the lead role of X and that filming begins this month. The movie is being produced by Lionsgate Films and Crystal Sky Pictures. According to Kosugi, A Man Called X will be a prequel to Tekken, the 2010 film from Crystal Sky that received a theatrical release in Japan but went straight to home video in the U.S. Kosugi has appeared in movies such as DOA: Dead or Alive and War, but he said this will be his first starring role in a Hollywood production.

Crystal Sky originally announced the Tekken prequel in May 2012 as "part of a franchise of movies," according to The Hollywood Reporter. At the time, it was called Tekken: Rise of the Tournament, and was set to be produced with Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior director Prachya Pinkaew at the helm.

It's unclear if Namco Bandai is involved with the production of A Man Called X. Tekken franchise director Katsuhiro Harada called the 2010 film "terrible" and said the series' producers "were not able to supervise that movie." We've reached out to the publisher for comment, and will update this article with any information we receive.