Gatchaman,Astro Boy Teaser Posters
Imagi Movies Will Be Distributed by Warner Bros., Weinsteins in 2009
Check out the teaser poster for Imagi's big screen adaptations of Astro Boy and Gatchaman. Movies come to theatres in late 2009.
The good folks at Latino Review managed to score our first look at Imagi's adaptation of the classic animes Gatchaman and Astro Boy.
Astro Boy: Up, Up and Away!
As long-time readers might remember of my review of TMNT (that's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the uninitiated), I was impressed with Imagi's visual sense and how they rendered some of the toughest elements of CGI on the big screen. Imagi seems to have continued with that aspect with the Astro Boy poster, which depicts our little hero doing some serious damage to the environment, merely by blasting off.
You gotta love the little guy's stance, ready and willing to stand up for justice and prod some buttock (yeah, yeah, this is a PG-rated site). It's a great little image, darker than the original vision of Astro Boy, but not as dark as the other image I've used before (which can be seen below). You can see the entire image by clicking here.
Unfortunately, I'm less stoked with the talent behind the camera. Colin Brady, who helmed the execrable Everyone's Hero is directing this flick, which will be produced by Maryann Garger, who produced the Aardman/DreamWorks bomb Flushed Away.
Pilar Flynn (First Flight) is the associate producer while Michael Lachance (The Madagascar Penguins in: A Christmas Caper, Over the Hedge) is writing the script.
Like I've said before, Imagi is treading on some seriously hallowed ground here by adapting Osamu Tezuka's 1951 manga for the silver screen. Astro Boy was one of the first, and still one of the most popular, mangas and animes ever created, and Imagi is in for a world of hurtin' if they don't give it the respect it deserves.
Here's the synopsis for the flick: "Astro Boy tells the story of a powerful robot boy created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Our hero journeys to find acceptance in the human world, and ultimately discovers true friendship as he uses his incredible powers to help others and save Metro City from destruction."
Not a lot of information there, but hopefully we'll get a better idea as to what's going on as the release date gets closer (or when we actually *get* a release date). As with their other classic anime property Gatchaman, Imagi is going with an "origins" tale with their take on the little robot boy.
Gatchaman: Busting Out From the GodPhoenix
I don't know what's going on here, but this Gatchaman one-sheet just isn't doing it for me. It's a classic image of the five members of G-Force charging away from the burning GodPhoenix (Ken Washio front and center, natch) but I'm not buying it.
Maybe it's because Ken Washio looks like Bruce Campbell's face in Army of Darkness (after he pulls himself out of the vacuum Necronomicon) or it's the colour scheme: pinks and blues. Those are cold colours, and they really don't convey the excitement that the poster is going for.
If it were me running this movie, I would have moved Heaven and Hell to get Alex Ross (artist for Kingdom Come) on the case, simply because I really like his vision of Gatchaman. But, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, someone else is in charge of bringing Gatchaman to the big screen.
The Weinstein Company and Warner Bros. are bringing both Gatchaman and Astro Boy to North American cinemas in 2009.
