DC Orders 200,000 'Watchmen'

Response to Trailer 'Off the Charts'July 24, 2008

ICv2 has learned that, based on the overwhelming response to the Watchmen movie trailer accompanying The Dark Knight, DC Comics has ordered a huge new printing of 200,000 copies of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen graphic novel. A DC spokesperson told ICv2 that after the movie trailer hit DC was receiving huge orders for the Watchmen graphic novel from every channel.

Even before the Watchmen movie trailer hit the Watchmen graphic novel was already the top-selling American graphic novel in the bookstore market thus far in 2008. In the wake of the launch of the movie trailer Watchmen trade shot up to #5 on Amazon.

Afro Samurai Sequel -- A Movie

Lucy Liu, Mark Hamill Join Cast
July 24, 2008

Manga Vol. 1The Spike TV network has announced that in January of 2009 it will air Afro Samurai: Resurrection, an animated feature length movie sequel to the Afro Samurai anime miniseries that was one of the bestselling anime DVDs of 2007. Afro Samurai: Resurrection, like its predecessor was produced by Gonzo, one of Japan’s leading anime studios. Once again Samuel L. Jackson, who also functioned as an executive producer on the project, reprises his role as the title character and hip hop artist RZA (Wu-Tang Clan) provides the soundtrack. Lucy Liu joins the vocal cast as Sio, a seductive and sadistic mastermind plotting to destroy Afro Samurai, while Mark Hamill will voice the role of Bin, Sio’s servant and protector. A trailer for Afro Samurai: Resurrection will debut at Comic-Con and will be available for viewing on afrosamurai.com starting at 8:15 pm (ET) on Thursday July 24th.

FUNimation Entertainment, which co-produced Afro Samurai: Resurrection with Gonzo, will once again have the home entertainment (DVD, etc.) rights, though no debut date for the disc, which is sure to be one of the bestselling anime DVDs of 2008, has been set yet.

The Afro Samurai miniseries and Afro Samurai: Resurrection are based on the original Afro Samurai manga by Takashi Okazaki, which Tor/Seven Seas is releasing in North America on September 2nd, 2008.

Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Film in Development at Fox

The IFMagazine.com entertainment website reports that film producer Erwin Stoff (The Matrix, A Scanner Darkly) is developing a live-action adaptation of Sunrise's Cowboy Bebop multi-genre action anime series for Fox. Stoff told the website that the project is "in the really early stages" since the parties "just signed it the other day." Shinichiro Watanabe's original anime follows the motley crew of the spaceship Bebop as it travels throughout the solar system in search of the next job. Stoff promised "a real degree of faithfulness," and added, “When I met with them in Japan, one of the first things that I brought up was the experience that we had on A Scanner Darkly, and how hard we worked to remain faithful to Philip K. Dick, and that was our big concern here.”

The anime distributor Bandai Entertainment and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block released the original 1998 television series in the United States, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the subsequent 2001 animated movie. The anime was also adapted into two separate manga series, and Tokyopop released both manga series in North America. A Bandai Entertainment representative was unable to publicly comment on this report.

Robert's Anime Cornerstore on "Black Lagoon" DVDs

Geneon Title Pre-Orders Rolling In Steady. Your pre-orders for the Geneon / Funimation re-releases continue to roll in (there are so many!) and we appreciate them! We placed OUR order for them this week, and I'm hoping Funimation will begin shipping them around the first or second week of August. Black Lagoon and Black Lagoon Second Barrage will be the first titles to arrive, and will be followed up a couple of weeks later with Karin and Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II.

Third Black Lagoon Project Confirmed

Here's how you get information in the Anime industry - the wraparound jacket band on Gen Urobuchi's novel adaptation of Rei Hiroe's Black Lagoon adventure manga has confirmed that a third Black Lagoon anime project has been green-lit for production. No release info is currently available but it will probably get on the schedule in Japan in late 2009.

New "Hero" for the Fall 2008 Season

Ntare Mwine has been added to the cast of NBC's Heroes, playing an African who is artistic and close to many of the original heroes, according to The Hollywood Reporter; his special abilities will be developed throughout his nine-episode arc.

Funimation's First Releases from Geneon Deal Scheduled

Funimation has scheduled the first anime DVD releases from its distribution deal with Geneon Entertainment (USA):

August 19: Black Lagoon season 1, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage volume 1, Elemental Gelade volume 1

September 2: Karin volumes 1-4, Kyo kara Maoh! season 2's volume 1-7

September 9: Shakugan no Shana series box

September 16: Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage volume 2, Fate/stay night
series box, Hellsing Ultimate volumes 1-4, Rozen Maiden series box

September 23: Kamichu! series box, Paradise Kiss series box

September 30: When They Cry - Higurashi volumes 1-4

Funimation announced at Anime Expo 2008 on Thursday that it had agreed to manufacture, sell, and distribute selected DVD titles from Geneon Entertainment in North America. Geneon Entertainment had ceased in-house distribution of its own titles last September.

FUNimation to Distribute Select Geneon Titles

Roughly nine months after Geneon announced that it was exiting the American anime market FUNimation Entertainment has struck a deal that will allow it to distribute select Geneon titles in North America. Under terms of the agreement FUNimation has obtained the exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution of established Geneon titles including Hellsing Ultimate, Ergo Proxy, Black Lagoon, Elemental Gelade, Fate Stay Night, Kamichu, Ninja Vixens, Paradise Kiss, Rozen Maiden, Rozen Maiden Traumend, Shana, Shonen Onmyouji, The Familiar of Zero, The Story of Saiunkoku, When They Cry, and The Law of Ueki.

Among the first titles to be released will be the special edition of Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon: Second Barrage, Karin, Kyo Kara Maoh Season 2, and Lyrical Nanoha.

Today's announcement is a bit of good news for the North American anime market and anime fans. FUNimation’s acquisition of Geneon titles had been rumored since last November (see “Geneon’s Fall a Positive for FUNimation?”) and in February the CEO of FUNimation’s parent company Navarre told industry analysts that FUNimation was in the “very early stages of negotiations” to acquire select Geneon titles (see “FUNimation Interested in Some Geneon Titles”). Those negotiations have obviously borne fruit, and though industry observers expected FUNimation to cherry pick the Geneon catalog, today’s announcement is notable for its rather broad sweep that extends from the obvious (Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy) to the somewhat surprising (The Law of Ueki, The Story of Saiunkoku).