MUMBAI: Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung, who directed the upcoming film Norwegian Wood based on a book by author Haruki Murakami, has said that it took him four years to win the Japanese author's approval to adapt his novel.

Hung said that Murakami was initially protective of the love story that has sold more than 10 million copies in Japan and 2.6 million abroad in 36 languages.

The film set in Tokyo in the late '60s is about a university student who is torn between two women, the girlfriend of his best friend who committed suicide and a self-confident and independent woman.

The film is scheduled to open in Japan and 36 other countries in December.