Imagi has released a poster with a picture of Joe for the 2010 film. Here it is!
Marvel...have now also partnered up with old-school anime studio Tatsunoko to make a series starring both Marvel's superheroes and Tatsunoko's anime characters, [including] Gatchaman.
Apparently Imagi really lives hand-to-mouth, and reports earlier this week suggested that the 50%-done AstroBoy project had been shut down.
From io9:
Imagi is funded by private equity firms, and the company had received some funding last year. A new round of funding was set to kick in on Feb 3, but in the meantime the company was counting on some "bridge financing" to cover expenses between now and early February.At this point Imagi is still saying it wants Gatchaman to happen, and Imagi US President Erin Corbett is currently seeking sponsorship from major companies like General Mills and Kraft. This would mean lots of tie-ins and merchandising.
When that "bridge financing" looked like it might not materialize, the only responsible thing to do was shut down the company's U.S. offices for a week... Everyone, including the animators, was put on "mandatory unpaid leave," until the new round of financing comes in on Feb. 3. [Assuming it will.]
The crowd at this year's Con is enormous. The last count I heard was 220,000. In theory, Saturday is the busiest day, so tomorrow's numbers may be larger.
Apparently the internet has changed things from 2007, the last time I did the Con. Author Robert J. Sawyer said that thanks to the power of the internet, the movie studios have really started to court audiences, so they create these massive displays and bring in stars...and that has made the Con expand exponentially.
It's been enormous fun hanging out with all the other Gatch fans. Last night one member of the group brought some of the original BotP reels over. We watched Attack of the Alien Wasp, Peril of the Pyramids, and The Great Brain Robbery. Not quietly. There was much MST-ing going on. A great shot of Joe earned shouts of "drool, drool, drool!"
I went by the Imagi booth today to see the Gatch promo video. The material looks similar to the images that were released --what, a year ago?-- though we got to see Joe. I was impressed with the quality of the CGI, but I thought Joe --especially his eyes-- looked just a touch too OAV. I'm not going to complain too much, he was completely clothed and looked good, but I prefer Joe's distinctive eye shape over the slitty blue eyes. Maybe -- if the project isn't stifled to death in the meantime -- they'll make those changes, who knows? Apparently the material we saw is not going to be used, it's conceptual, like the shots we saw before.
Tired. More later.
Oh -- as an aside, for the writers out there. I'm participating in a writers' blog chain. We're currently writing about our writing methods. Not sure what the next topic is, I think I have to pick it!
Recently there have been several updates on the Imagi Gatchaman movie.
* Kevin Munroe has signed on to direct the movie version of Dark Horse's comic book Dylan Dog -- which means he will not be directing the Gatchaman movie. Munroe also directed Imagi's TMNT.
* Charlie Wen, a lifelong fan and one of the character designers for Gatchaman at Imagi, has also left the project because, in his own words, "The original vision for the film was fun and a bit edgy---appealed to me. The project's been through lots of changes, rewrites (like any film), ended up with a different director recently. The vision's changed since I first joined, and seems to be going towards a younger Power Rangers audience---I wanted to see a Gatchaman that I would love to see, and didn't want to see it go this direction, so I departed from Imagi and took an Art Directing/Character Designing gig on Thundercats."
* Jun Falkenstein is the new director for the Gatchaman movie. She intends to blog about working on the film for fans. She wrote, "I know that the minute they announce me as director, all these fans will...see that pretty much the biggest directing credit I have is 'The Tigger Movie' - and then they will freak out, because how dare I direct their beloved (INSERT FILM TITLE HERE LATER) when "all I have done" is this rated G film for little kids. Oh yes, they will freak out. And you know what, I can't say that I will blame them. So...I started these 'journal entries' to not only document the process of directing an animated feature...but also to attempt to convince worried fans that I'm actually a pretty big geek and fan of the genre - and that I have no intention of softening down the film when the source material is so kick-ass."
* Ms. Falkenstein verified that the film's release will most likely now be in early 2010.
In fandom itself, not everyone is sad to see Kevin Munroe go, and some fans have high hopes that Jun Falkenstein will help create a film that will appeal to both adults and children. As one fan pointed out, Top Cow's comics were also supposed to be "dark and edgy," and they crashed and burned -- badly. Meanwhile, films like The Incredibles, which appeal to viewers of all ages, have been box office gold. So here's hoping for something more like the latter than the former!
Thanks to everyone who's contributed information and discussion, including tatsunokofan, Wendy Dinsmore (who's wonderful at verifying information), and Wendy's anonymous source.
