There's a new trend in Hollywood right now, and it sort of spins off from making films based on popular comic books. What I'm talking about are films based not on comics, but on Japanese animation series, more commonly known as anime.
It's easy to see where the interest would come from. For one thing, anime has a strong fan base here in America, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that a film studio, major or otherwise, would have an interest in making a live-adaptation of a popular title. Heck, there have already been some American-made films based on anime titles such as “Guyver” and “Fist of the North Star” even before anime became such a phenomenon. Not that a lot of anime fans would be proud to admit it, since the films were low budget, direct-to-video nightmares that many would like to forget.
But things have been changing in the last few years. Thanks to the success of American comic-based films such as “X-Men”, “Spider-Man”, and “Batman Begins”, the addition of CGI special effects and even the success of adaptations of Japanese horror films such as “The Ring” and “The Grudge”, major studios have taken an interest in making live action adaptations of popular anime titles. In the last several years, announcements of such adaptations for several titles have been made, often with big name studios and directors behind them.
Fans became excited when a live-action version of “Battle Angel” was going to be directed by “Terminator” creator James Cameron, as the title was right up the director's alley with its post-apocalyptic setting and cyborg main character. Much interest has been generated by the proposed “Neon Genesis Evangelion” live-action film, produced by anime distributor ADV Films with special effects studio WETA (the guys who did “Lord of the Rings”) handling the visuals, thanks in part to released production art. And then there's “Speed Racer”, “Voltron”, “Astro Boy”, “Lupin the 3rd”, “Blood: The Last Vampire”, “Akira”, “Dragonball Z”, “Afro Samurai”... The list goes on and on. So the excitement is really no surprise.
And it's starting to show. For the past several years, numerous anime titles have been announced to be in production, some of them by big name studios and with big name talent behind them. The Wachowski brothers, the boys behind the Matrix trilogy, are at work for a Speed Racer film. Terminator creator James Cameron announced his plans to direct a live action version of Battle Angel, a similar tale of cyborgs in a post-apocalyptic future with the main character being done with motion capture and CGI.
CGI versions of longtime favorites Gatchaman (“Battle of the Planets” to most folks) and Astro Boy are in the works. Anime distributor ADV Films has joined with the special effects studio WETA (the guys who did Lord of the Rings) to produce a Neon Genesis EvangelionLupin the 3rd, Voltron, Blood: The Last Vampire, Akira, Dragonball Z, Afro Samurai (starring Samuel L. Jackson!)... The list goes on and on. film. And then there's
Yeah, a lot of titles, and a lot of potential riding on them. But just because a movie has been announced doesn't mean instant results. After all, how long were “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” in the much-dreaded “development hell” before we finally saw results? It's the same thing regarding anime-based projects. “Speed Racer” was first announced fifteen years ago and was bumped around until finally landing in the hands of the Wachowski brothers, the boys behind the “Matrix” trilogy.
Now it seems to be making the most progress, with a plot, a cast that includes Christina Ricci as girlfriend Trixie and John Goodman as Pops Racer, and even a release date of May 9, 2008 announced. “Astro Boy” went through similar development hell since its announcement in 1997. It's now in the hands of Imagi Studios, who did the recent CGI film “TMNT” featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, though no details beyond a 2009 release date, the hiring of Colin Brady as director and a few promotional images have been released.
Some films, thankfully, have developed quicker than others. “Voltron” was first announced in 2005 with Mark Gordon and Pharrell Williams as producers, with a script completed by Justin Marks in 2006. The recent success of “Transformers” and its CGI-generated robots has helped pushed the project into high gear, though no release date has been set. “Dragonball” began filming last month after much hype and speculation since its 2002 announcement, with Justin Catwin as the hero Goku and James Marsters as the villain Piccolo.
