AnimeNation Anime News Blog

A friend turned us on to this one today, the Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones book. While we wait impatiently for the next season, I’ve got one of these ordered and on the way (And while we’re shilling for Amazon, here’s the complete First &  Second seasons on DVD)

The AnimeNation crew wish to express our sincere condolences and prayers to the community of Aurora, Colorado, following last night’s tragic mass shooting at the midnight Dark Knight Rises screening.

God be praised! The awesome 2009 Solomon Kane movie has finally been picked up for official American release by the Weinstein Company’s TWC RADiUS label for video-on-demand beginning August 24 and a limited theatrical release beginning September 28.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

Crystal Sky Pictures has signed Ong-bak & Tom Yum Goong director Prachya Pinkaew to helm its Tekken: Rise of the Tournament prequel to the 2010 Tekken live-action movie. Pinkaew’s English language directorial debut was last year’s action film Elephant White starring Djimon Hounsou & Kevin Bacon.

Very interesting. This development could certainly lend some cinematic credibility to the pacing and action of a new Tekken movie.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Illustrator & author Maurice Sendak, best known as the author of the beloved children’s book Where The Wild Things Are passed away today after suffering a stroke last Friday. He will be missed.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

Internationally acclaimed French comic artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud passed away on March 10 after a lengthy battle with cancer. The 73 year-old artist may be best known as the illustrator of the influential Blueberry Western comic book series that he co-created with writer Jean-Michel Charlier in 1963. Giraud contributed concept designs to feature films including Alien (1979) and Tron (1982). He also co-wrote the original draft screenplay of TMS’s 1989 anime film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Although Giraud had little direct involvement in Japanese comics or animation, his influence on modern manga & anime has been significant, especially in the visual design of anime like Makoto Kobayashi’s 1988 OVA Dragon’s Heaven.

Source: Los Angeles Times

From Hobo With A Shotgun director Jason Eisener:

Source: Twitch

Director Ridley Scott has agreed to direct another film expanding the world first depicted in his seminal 1982 film Blade Runner. Alcon Entertainment (The Blind Side) will produce.

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

Source: Deadline

87 year-old director Irvin Kershner passed away on November 29. The director of films including The Flim-Flam Man (1967) and Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Kershner is best known and most respected as the director of 1980′s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.

Rest in peace, my good man.

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

The first theatrical Winnie the Pooh movie from Walt Disney Animation in over 35 years is an original hand-drawn feature opening July 15, 2011. Burny Mattinson, key animator on the 1974 short “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” serves as senior story artist.

I grew up with two bears, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington. I’ve always been a fan of A.A. Milne’s literary Pooh, but the singular problem I’ve always had with Disney’s adaptation is its voices. How come Christopher Robin sounds British but none of the critters do?

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

Just because I’ve been a rabid Bloom County fan since the late 1980s I’m pointing out that Ain’t It Cool News has published a new, lengthy interview with Berkeley Breathed on the subject of his most beloved creation.

“It’s a weird feeling. But a good one. Like sex with cows.”

China Lion Film Distribution Inc. has signed an exclusive distribution deal with the AMC theater chain that will see up to 15 Chinese langauge films per year released theatrically simultaneously in China, the United States, and Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. The partnership will begin with the current Chinese blockbuster Aftershock. The film, currently playing in Chinese theaters, will get a limited North American theatrical release on October 29. Future releases will hit theaters day-and-date simultaneously.

The Peugeot BB1 concept car.

Watchmen movie producer Lloyd Levin has acquired the rights to film a movie adaptation of comic artist/writer Matt Wagner’s acclaimed 1984-1986 comic mini-series Mage: The Hero Discovered. Levin called the story, “One of the great untapped comic books from the ’80s renaissance that also spawned Watchmen and Batman: Dark Knight.” The comic series is a heartfelt Authurian tale set in modern day. Levin plans to follow the production model that director Matthew Vaughn used to produce the Kick-ass movie: independently finance and produce the film before seeking a major studio to handle distribution. That strategy allows for filming with more creative freedom and less studio oversight/interference. Wagner’s Mage franchise has been optioned for movie development before but has never been filmed.

I just had to report this, as I’ve been a Mage fan since the late 80′s.

Source: ICv2

This isn’t anime, but any anime fan that isn’t just a little bit intrigued by the first trailer for director Zac Snyder’s next picture, Sucker Punch, isn’t an anime fan.