Dreamworks will make “Ghost in the shell”
Dreamworks acquired rights to one of the most popular and one of the best manga of all times - Ghost in the shell. They plan to make this futuristic thrillers into a 3d action feature.
Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk manga created by Masamune Shirow, and first published in 1989 in Young Magazine. A sequel, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface, was released in 2002.
Over the years, the manga series has been adapted into the following: three anime films — Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society; two anime television series — Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig; all produced by Production I.G, along with one PlayStation game, one PlayStation 2 game and one PlayStation Portable game. [Wikipedia]
Although Universal and Sony was after the rights for this franchise, Steven Spielberg showed personal interest for this one and that (it seams) made all the difference. He said:
“Ghost in the shell is one of my favorite stories. It’s a genre that has arrived, and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks.”
I don’t know about you but I can’t wait for this one to hit the box office 
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Anime for anyone
Anime fans rejoice! Gonzo’s parent company GDH comes news that they plan to provide popular video streaming sites Youtube, Crunchyroll, and BOST with simultaneous, English-subtitled anime broadcasts of upcoming TV series. Episodes will be available at the same time as they air on Japanese TV, thus making licensing / subbing / production turnaround a thing of the past. Two series planned to lead this pilot effort are: The Tower of Druaga - the AEGIS of URUK and Blassreiter.
From the GDH press releace:
Previously fans outside of Japan did not have access to Japanese animation titles until each property was licensed and localized for TV or videogram release in each respective territory. Partially as a result of this gap in availability, a substantial amount of fansubbed pirated footage has traditionally proliferated the Internet via file sharing communities immediately following the first broadcast on terrestrial TV in Japan. G.D.H.’s decision to provide its content globally in parallel with Japanese broadcast is an effort to offer equal accessibility and new viewing opportunities to fans around the world, while at the same time showcasing a legal online alternative to illegal file-sharing and downloading. The web VoD services in this venture will also explore new business models that both maximize revenues from content exploitation and savings on distribution costs.
I truly hope other companies will follow Gonzo’s example.
Read this comprehensive article on Japanator.
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Post apocalyptic list
Quiet Earth has a list of post-apocalyptic movies, tv, book, comic-book and anime. I’m not going to write the list here because it’s HUGE. I mean, there is like 154 movies, 63 comic books etc. So, if you’re a real sand warrior (fan of post apocalyptic stuff) you can follow this link - here.
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Japanese Star Wars Gorier, Longer, More Awesome
io9 - The official Star Wars blog says the Japanese manga adaptation of the first three Star Wars movies is light years better than Marvel Comics’ original adaptation. To hammer home how flawed the American version was, here are some comparisons of how certain scenes appeared in the U.S. and japanese versions.
It’s not just the problems of pacing and available space - while Marvel’s 22-page limit for each issue reduces the destuction of Alderaan to one panel, the manga spends six pages on the same event - but also of editorial restrictions: Vader cutting off Luke’s hand is shown in all its gory detail in Japan, but American audiences find a piece of machinery suspiciously in the way.
Read more.
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Appleseed: Ex Machina on DVD
SF Signal - We’ve mentioned the movie before, but now we see that Appleseed Ex Machina is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on March 11th (and HD-DVD for those poor saps who bought into a losing format). This is the follow on to the previous movie, Appleseed, which was a re-make of the 1988 film, Appleseed, which, in turn, as based on the Appleseed manga. Whew.Just looking at the visuals, it’s amazing how far animation has come, and what amazing visual effects you can get with CGI. I remember in the 2004 film, the ‘human’ characters looked really plastic-y and fake, but the action was top notch. It’ll be interesting to see how this film picks up from the ending of the first.
Check out the trailer below:
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Akira - the movie - again!
Blockbuster Buzz - Akira is one of those comic books, like Watchmen, that totally revolutionised the medium when it was published in the early 1980s. The animated movie, released a few years later, was the breakthrough Manga movie that introduced Western fans to the rich, exotic, and frequently weird culture of Japanese animation.Now, 25 years later, Warner Brothers have announced a live-action take on the still highly regarded tale of futuristic motorcycle gangs, psychic supermen, and baby universes. A three movie series is planned at this stage, with at least the first instalment directed by Ruairi Robinson and scripted by Gary Whitta . Both are comparatively unknown quantities, although Robinson’s sci-fi short The Silent City certainly boasted plenty of the barren post-apocalyptic atmosphere you might hope for in the latter stages of the Akira saga.
Read more.
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Termination - Animatrix for Terminator franchise
If SF Universe has good information (and they usually do) then John Middleton, consulting producer from Sarah Connor Chronicles AND Termiantor 4 is preparing another project form the Terminator franchise. These are his own words:
“I’m also working on an animation project called Termination which will utilize anime and animation auteurs to do individual segments inspired by the Terminator franchise. It will be like the Animatrix, except that it will have a more international flare. This idea of Judgment Day isn’t just something that would affect Los Angeles, so we’d have European animators as well as Japanese Anime masters. It’s in early development and we hope to have that ready for release in 2009. The animation process is extremely time consuming.”
I must admit this idea appeals me. I’m just a huge fan of Terminator (been so since I was just a kid) and Animatrix was in a way even better then the movies (they sucked after the first part). Looking forward to this one…
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Year of great expectations
Year 2008 - big year for sci-fi?!
Just a couple days ago (yesterday I think) I was talking to my friend about sci-fi titles announced for this year and we came to conclusion that this year has some of the coolest ones that we seen in years. After long time of not caring that much we’re finally looking forward to (eagerly and impatiently) it, especially movies. I don’t remember when was the last time I was expecting a movie full of hope like now.
We already witnessed some of what 2008 has to offer: I am Legend, Cloverfield and maybe even Alien Vs Predator 2 if you didn’t expect to much of it. 
But this is just January for god’s sake. We still have 11 months to go.
We can still expect wonders of Terminator 4, Mad Max 4, Star Trek 11, Batman: Dark Knight, Host 2…I bet it’ll be even more, with few surprises, if not in movies then books, comics, anime or whatever …
I can’t but not feel that sci-fi is slowly getting back, after couple of years of being absent from the big screen. All kind of sh*t was fed to us over the years and we couldn’t do much more than keeping tabs on “another bad movie…and another…and another…”
The best part is that it’s not all! We still get to see some real candies in the field of digital entertainment. Starcraft 2, Fallout 3, Duke Nukem Forever (ok, ok, I’m maybe a bit too optimistic, so sue me) are just some of the representatives.
My personal opinion is that this year will be a huge year for sci-fi. We’ll see if my high hopes and expectations will be fulfilled but all I know that the last time I had this feeling I was expecting Matrix to come out…
Anyways, I got my fingers crossed! So should you!
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Amazon Unbox anime store
Amazon - Amazon Unbox celebrates its newest, biggest Anime store ever with the best deals we’ve ever offered. Download hundreds of anime hits from VIZ, FUNimation, Manga Entertainment, and more. But click now: Many first episodes are free and seasons are up to 30% off for a limited time. Don’t miss out on these deals!
Download Free Anime Hits Now!
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