QFT.
This movie has the possibility of pulling a Godzilla, and piss off the japanese and they IMMEDIATELY make a better movie for half or a quarter of the budget and it be full of win.
also like Sentai, there are certain things that must NOT change or else it will be "power rangery"
They HAVE to say "Bird GO!" if they say "Transmute" they fail.
Yup pretty much.
Just FYI, the new English dub for the original Gatchaman produced by ADV has Ken saying, "Bird GO!" in it.
Here's some updates on the project:
IESB talks with director Kevin Munroe:
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content& task=view& id=3351&Itemid=99
Imagi Animation has released the first posters for their two next big animated projects, Gatchaman and Astroboy. Plus, Gatchaman director Kevin Munroe talks about the film.
Gatchaman and Astroboy are coming in 2009 from Imagi Animation. Gatchaman director Kevin Munroe recently talked about the making of the film.
He says about the challenges he has faced making this film, “The challenge is really just making an entertaining movie first. That doesn’t mean forgetting the property’s roots, but you have to make sure the film works and can stand on its own. And we’re not just making Gatchaman for contemporary youth, but also a broad audience, the same audience that enjoyed The Matrix and Batman Begins. Gatchaman’s characters are relevant because they are real, and don’t depend on a “timely” adaptation. Themes such as teen angst, family and faith transcend generations, and that’s what we’re looking at with Gatchaman.”
Story-wise, Munroe says, “We’re doing an original story of Gatchaman and Galactor’s first invasion of Earth. Adding a mythology to why they are, where the conflict of Katse and Galactor came from, and explaining Gatchaman’s super powers.”
OK well he did use the Japanese name from Gatchaman for Berg Katse, the main leader for Galactor. Just FYI, in Battle of The Planets he was called Zoltar, and in G-Force he was called Gallactor.
Also I don't get Munroe saying they are adding all that, because as far as I know everything he is talking about was revealed in the series.
Also, typically CG animated films that are marketed as more adult, darker, or more mature in the way he is suggesting don't really have a good track record or are very successful. Look at Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which granted was a piece of crap and shared no familiarity with the much loved property.
There's Advent Children which was a ton of fun and was a true sequel to FF7. HOWEVER, had this movie been given a wide release in the US do you guys really think it would've made a ton of money?
Now look at The Incredibles. The Incredibles did have some heavy and serious ideas and themes in it at times. However it was still overall a pretty family-friendly movie. And Munroe is saying this will be PG-13 level.
I mean I want to see a darker and gritty tone closer to the original anime in the new movie, I'm just not sure it will be successful.
Basically my prediction for this movie is that it would make even less than TMNT did in the US, which was about $55 million.
They are apparently set on making this movie Gatchaman, not G-Force, Battle of The Planets, and Eagle Riders. Gatchaman is the best and original version, but the popularity and nostalgia for this show is for the American versions. The fanbase is very segmented basically, and I think it will be more of a detriment to the movie than a benefit.
Warner Bros./Weinstein Co. to distribute Gatchaman feature:
Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Company to distribute Imagi Gatchaman movie
From a new press release from the Imagi Web site:
IMAGI ANIMATION STUDIOS ENTERS INTO GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
WITH WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
Hong Kong (September 27, 2007) – Warner Bros. Pictures, The Weinstein Company and Imagi Animation Studios agreed upon principal terms for the worldwide distribution of the feature films Gatchaman and AstroBoy. The announcement was jointly made by Jeff Robinov, President, Production, Warner Bros. Pictures; Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company; Imagi Co-CEOs Douglas Glen and Francis Kao; and brokered by The William Morris Agency.
The new pact builds on the success of TMNT, Imagi's first theatrical motion picture, also distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company. TMNT opened in March 2007 at the top of the U.S. box office.
"Imagi is breaking new ground with big action pictures done entirely in CG animation," said Robinov. "It's an exciting new genre, with the potential of attracting big mass market audiences."
"TMNT had the kind of beautifully choreographed action sequences you'd expect from Hong Kong animators," said Weinstein. "The next two films will confirm Imagi's reputation as the world's leading action hero animation studio."
"We are delighted to be allied with the marketing and distribution power of Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company," said Glen. Added Kao, "We're making Hollywood-style movies with Hong Kong-style excitement and stories that are fusions of Western and Asian themes."
I didn't know TMNT was that successful. And while I liked TMNT, I only thought 1 or 2 action sequences in it were pretty good. I would hope in Gatchaman they will be better.
Someone needs to tell Kevin Munroe if the classic theme song is not in the movie then it is already OFFICIALLY dead.
A couple other things. In an interview on the IMAGI website, Munroe says that there will be celebrities cast as the voices, and that the human characters will be entirely "human-hand animated". So does that mean essentially that the human characters will be 2-D, hand drawn style and everything else will be CG? This has been done before, in Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, which I did think looked absolutely amazing, but that was Production IG. And think the animation in Innocence really trumped just about everything in TMNT. Also prefer those designs over Jeff Matsuda (The Batman, Kaboom, and Jackie Chan Adventures) who is doing the new Gatchaman movie.