Universal Pictures has bought the North American distribution rights to the action film "Dororo," starring celebrity couple Kou Shibasaki and Satoshi Tsumabuki. Rights to the film have already been sold to 20 other countries throughout Europe and Asia.

The movie is based on the 1960's manga by the legendary Osamu Tezuka. A samurai makes a pact with 48 demons so that he can become king, pledging one body part of his unborn son to each of the demons. He abandons the child, but the boy is found by a physician who creates prosthetics to reconstruct the boy's body. When the boy grows up, he teams up with a thief named Dororo to face the demons and reclaim his body parts.

The film is directed by Akihiko Shiota, and the action scenes are choreographed by Siu-Tung Ching of "HERO" and "Lovers" fame. "Dororo" opens in Japan on January 27.