"Gundam Unicorn" is an Amazon Exclusive

Bandai Visual Japan is giving Amazon.com a two-month exclusive window on the Blu-ray disc of the first episode of the new Gundam anime, Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn). Based on a popular series of light novels by Harutoshi Fukui (over 2 million copies sold in Japan), the Gundam Unicorn anime takes place in the standard Gundam Universal Century timeline just three years after the events in the film Char’s Counterattack. The Gundam Unicorn series will consist of six 50-minute episodes. The first episode of the Gundam Unicorn anime, which will include an English language track as well as the Japanese track with English subtitles, will be released simultaneously in Japan and the U.S. on March 12th.

Bandai Visual, which failed in its attempt to establish a U.S. subsidiary selling anime DVDs with the high price points that are common in Japan, has hit upon a new strategy for the Gundam Unicorn series. It remains to be seen whether granting Amazon a two-month window will lead to a different outcome than that experienced by Bandai Visual U.S., given a pricing policy that flies in the face of the downward trends in the receding U.S. anime market. Even in the Blu-ray format, Bandai Visual’s SRP of $49.98 for the first 50-minute episode of Gundam Unicorn is quite high, in spite of Amazon’s 30% discount, which lowers the price to $34.99.

To gin up interest in the new Gundam series Bandai is allowing free streaming in North America and Europe of six previous Gundam series including Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Z Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 for a limited time on Anime News Network, Crunchyroll, and YouTube.

Bandai Visual’s unlikely combination of expensive new Gundam BD releases supported by free streaming of the Gundam backlist is more evidence that the anime market in North America remains in flux with no clear path to profitability, at least not for an entity like Bandai Visual that is striving to become the “Criterion” of anime-on-DVD producers. Amazon.com has increasingly become the exclusive home for certain niche DVD titles, some of which are produced on demand via the online giant’s CreateSpace DVD-on demand-program. Is Gundam Unicorn a niche title on the order of an obscure MTV animated show like The Head? Time will tell.

"Conan the Barbarian" Actor Chosen

Jason Momoa, who plays the dreadlock-wearing Ronon Dex on Stargate Atlantis, is in negotiations to portray Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian in a new film that Marcus Nispel is directing for Nu Image/Millennium Films. The reboot of cinema’s number one barbarian franchise in which Conan avenges the death of his father and the slaughter of his tribesmen, will begin principal photography in Bulgaria in the middle of March.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, producers of the Conan film had narrowed their choice to Momoa and Kellan Lutz of Twilight before settling on the six foot-four-inch half-Hawaiian, half Iowan actor, who will also be seen in HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.

U.S. Version of 'Torchwood' in Development

A U.S. version of Torchwood is in development at Fox, according to Hollywood Reporter. Original series creator Russell Davies is writing the script. He’s joined by fellow BBC vets Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter.

Fox hasn’t ordered a pilot yet, but if it does, BBC star John Barrowman may be tapped to star in the U.S. version as well.

Torchwood has been getting great ratings in the U.S. on BBC America. The five-episode miniseries Torchwood: Children of the Earth was recently a factor in bringing BBC America its best ratings week ever .

Director Hired for 'Spidey' Reboot

A new director has been hired for Spider-Man 4, which will now be the beginning of a new series of films that focus on a younger Peter Parker. Marc Webb, who directed the Golden Globe-nominated (500) Days of Summer, has been signed to direct the reboot, according to New York magazine.

Not only will Webb bring a new sensibility to the film, he also will be significantly cheaper than Sam Raimi, who was receiving gross points for his work on the franchise according to the report

Columbia to Re-Boot 'Spiderman'

Sony/Columbia has decided to pull the plug on Spider-Man 4. Signs of trouble appeared last week when the studio announced that the production was put on hiatus. Now the studio has decided to fire director Sam Raimi who has helmed all three of the highly successful Spider-Man films and ditch Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and all the high priced talent in front of the camera as well. In a successful series such as Spider-Man all the key players generally get raises for each subsequent film, which naturally drives up production costs.

Variety is reporting that the studio, which could risk losing the rights to the Spider-Man character if it doesn't produce a new film, had a contingency plan in case of problems with the Raimi-helmed Spider-Man 4. The plan involves a “reboot” script by James Vanderbilt that takes Spidey back to high school in a version that will feature all new younger actors and cost the studio far less to produce. Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, who have been involved in the production of all 3 Spider-Man movies, will be producing the new Spider-Man film. The new teenage Spider-Man movie, which has no stars or director attached at present, is slated to debut in the summer of 2012.

Spider-Man 4 had originally been scheduled for early May of 2011, thus it was a very bad sign for the film when, in the wake of stories about delays in the production of the next Spider-Man film, Marvel Studios moved the debut of its Thor movie into the Spidey 4 slot , which just happens to coincide with Free Comic Book Day. Reports indicate that the studio was unhappy with the script for Spider-Man 4 and the villain (The Vulture) that Raimi had chosen for the film. Raimi, who obviously could have been a diplomat if he had wanted to, told Variety: “While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job.”

Though the studio will save a potentially huge amount of money in production costs by rebooting the series, Sony/Columbia is messing with a billion dollar franchise. Let’s hope the studio is not jettisoning the character-driven approach that made the first two films in the series so compelling

Adult Swim Nabs 3 New Anime, Loses 2

The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim announced on air via title cards that it had lost the rights to show the anime series Death Note and Blood+. The entire Death Note anime series was shown on Adult Swim at least three times, while Blood+ was shown just once in its entirety (50 episodes).

The Anime News Network is reporting that Adult Swim followed the news of the expiration of the rights to Death Note and Blood+ with a cryptic announcement indicating that on a recent visit to Tokyo “we think we bought three series (maybe).”

It should be interesting to see which new series that Adult Swim, which has been aggressive in producing its own animated series and has even added live action shows to its lineup, has picked up. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the sequel to the FMA series that had a very successful run on Adult Swim, is a likely candidate, as is Inuyasha: The Final Conflict, the finale to the long-running Inuyasha anime that has a rich history with the Cartoon Network that goes way back to the early days of Adult Swim.

Funimation, which handled the original Full Metal Alchemist anime, has acquired U.S. rights to FMA: Brotherhood . Viz Media distributes the Inuyasha manga and anime series as well as the Full Metal Alchemist manga in North America.

Venture Brotherrs Action Figures

Bif Bang Pow! will produce a line of action figures, bobble heads, and vehicles based the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros. First up is a line of 7” resin bobble heads due out this spring. Articulated action figures will follow in the summer, featuring Dr. Venture, The Monarch, Brock Samson, Hank & Dean Venture, and others.

The deal was reached between Bif Bang Pow! and Cartoon Network Enterprises, which handles licensing and merchandising for Adult Swim.

Bif Bang Pow! has produced other tv-based toy lines, including one based on the hit show Lost

'spider-Man 4' Delayed

Shooting on Spider-Man 4 has been pushed back and the May 6, 2011 release date is in jeopardy, according to Deadline Hollywood. The problem is the script, which has been on a second rewrite since the summer and is still not ready to shoot. Crew members are being told to stand down until a new shooting start date is set.

Marvel movies (both from Marvel and its licensees) have aggressively staked out the first weekend in May (Free Comic Book Day!) for years, especially for Spider-Man, so the date will not be given up lightly, but a script would have to be approved soon for production to be completed in time.

'Deadpool' Movie Gets Writers from Zombieland

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have been signed to write the screenplay for Deadpool , according to Variety. The pair wrote Zombieland and also did a draft of the Venom script.

The Deadpool movie is set to star Ryan Reynolds, who’s about to begin shooting Green Lantern.

'Dune' Gets New Director

Pierre Morel (Taken) has signed a deal to direct a remake of Dune, according to Variety. Morel replaces Peter Berg, who had been working on a Dune pic , but got diverted to the Battleship film.

The 1984 David Lynch Dune film wasn’t a commercial success, but did spawn a wide range of merchandise.

Disney Expands Ties With Stan Lee After Marvel Acquisition

The same day that its acquisition of Marvel was finalized, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was expanding its ties with Stan Lee’s Pow! Entertainment. The Disney Studios signed a “first look” agreement with Pow! in 2007 . Under the new agreement, Walt Disney Studios gains enhanced rights to the creative output of Pow! Entertainment as well as exclusive consulting services. In addition Disney has taken a 10% equity stake in Pow! with an investment of $2.5 million.

Bob Chapek, President of Worldwide Distribution for the Disney Studios, commented on the new agreement: “Stan has incredible creative energy and continues to come up with great original stories that can work across many of our platforms, ranging from console games to motion pictures and from our boys-focused Disney XD network to mobile devices. Put that together with his knowledge and familiarity of the Marvel universe and it makes perfect sense to extend our excellent working relationship with Stan and POW!

'Ghostbusters 3' Progressing

Harold Ramis who co-wrote the original Ghostbusters films and starred as Dr. Egon Spengler, told an interviewer that the long-awaited Ghostbusters 3 “is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011.” The GB3 project will include much of the original cast as well as a new generation of younger Ghostbusters.
Ramis told Heeb.com “Dan (Aykroyd) did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel.”