Future Projects : News & Gossip
Nessmonster's redesign: images used with her kind permission
Live-action Gatchaman movie (projected 2009)
According to AnimeNetwork.com and Variety.com, Nikkatsu has announced that they've green-lit new live-action films for Gatchaman and Yatterman, both originally successful Tatsunoko anime series. Nikkatsu is working with both Tatsunoko and toymaker Takara Tomy so they can produce DVDs, games, toys, and mobile services tied into the films.
The assumption thus far is that these will be Japanese-release films.
Also in the lineup: a Death Note spinoff featuring L. Nikkatsu.
Imagi Gatchaman (CGI movie - projected 2008/2009)
The company that did the 2006/2007 TMNT film is working on a Gatchaman film for 2008/2009 release.
According to Harry Knowles, the head geek at aintitcool.com,
[TMNT director] Kevin [Monroe] had a portfolio under his arm filled with designs for the [Gatchaman] film... You instantly got the idea of how in love with these characters that Kevin is. The CG designs take their direct cue from the Anime. Those faces - it is Mark and Jason and my favorite design was Tiny (sorry, I know for some of you, that's not the character's names - but to me they are). Tiny's face sort of always reminded me of pre-furry Hank McCoy from the earliest days of the X-MEN - and his character kinda always reminded me of the Beast. Each page was a character layout for each - with multiple heads to show the range of character emotion and looks they could achieve. They're not made to look HUMAN exactly, but a slight hybrid between animation and living beings. It was quite striking... The most stunning character design was the Zoltar look. It was just very very badass.
