Ken Watanabe Joins Ansel Elgort in ‘Tokyo Vice’ at HBO Max

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Ken Watanabe has boarded the “Tokyo Vice” drama series in the works at HBO Max.

He joins Ansel Elgort who was cast in the lead role back in June. Watanabe will executive produce the series along with John Lesher, Emily Gerson Saines, J.T. Rogers and Elgort.

The series is based on based on Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction book of the same name, which is a first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. Elgort will star as Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who embeds himself into the police squad to reveal corruption. The series will chronicle Jake’s daily descent into the neon soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing, and no one is truly what or who they seem.

Watanabe will play Hiroto Katagiri, a detective in the organized crime division of the Tokyo Police Department who is also a father-figure to Jake throughout the series as he helps guide him along the thin and often precarious line between the cops and the world of organized crime. The actor is best known for his feature roles in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “Inception,” and “The Last Samurai.”

The series has received a 10-episode order. J.T. Rogers will write the adaptation with Destin Daniel Cretton directing. Endeavor Content will serve as the studio.