Paul Dini has been signed to collaborate on the screenplay for Imagi Animation Studios’ upcoming CG-animated motion picture, Gatchaman. Announcement was made by Francis Kao, Co-CEO & Chief Creative Officer.
“We are excited to have Paul on our talented ‘Gatchaman’ team,” said Kao. “His extensive background in animation and superhero comics will contribute greatly to this ambitious action movie.”
“The original series was one of the classics of early anime, and the film will be very true to the Japanese source material,” said Dini. “As a studio, Imagi is constantly breaking the boundaries of animated adventure. Not only are their action sequences amazing, but their characters are driven, complex and play for life-or-death stakes. It’s a great environment for a writer with a rather dark take on animation.”
Writer/producer Paul Dini’s career spans animation (“Batman: The Animated Series”), television (“Lost”) and comics (“Detective,” “The World’s Greatest Superheroes”). The winner of multiple Emmy, Eisner and Writers Guild of America Awards, Dini is also currently masterminding the DC Comics 2007 weekly series “Countdown.” His creations “Jingle Belle” and “Mutant, Texas” continue to appear frequently from Dark Horse, Oni Press and other publishers. Dini and his wife, magician Misty Lee, have also launched a popular series of Internet shorts featuring their puppet creation, Little Rashy.
Gatchaman is based on the successful Japanese franchise created in the early 1970s by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. Aired in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets and G-Force, the TV series soon became one of the top syndicated shows.
Scheduled for release in early 2009, Gatchaman is a big, effects-rich movie set in a future world grappling with environmental and technological issues. The story focuses on five reluctant heroes whose remarkable genetic code makes them Earth’s only hope of defeating extra-terrestrial invaders.
Kevin Munroe (TMNT) is the director of Gatchaman, being produced by Lynne Southerland.
