Link to Jun Falkenstein's blog

As I mentioned in my last post, news is out that Jun Falkenstein will be the new director of the Gatchaman movie. Thanks to a post by David Labraccio on the BotP Mailing List at Yahoo Groups, I found her blog at Stone Falcon Productions.

Here's an excerpt of particular interest:

One of the things that's bothering me a little bit right now is that fact that the film I am working on has a fan following (of the source material). No, the fans aren't what's bothering me - in fact, that part's pretty cool. What's bothering me is, I know that the minute they announce me as director, all these fans will run over to my IMDB page, look me up, and see that pretty much the biggest directing credit I have is 'The Tigger Movie' - and then they will freak out, because how dare I direct their beloved (INSERT FILM TITLE HERE LATER) when "all I have done" is this rated G film for little kids. Oh yes, they will freak out. And you know what, I can't say that I will blame them.

So with that in mind, I started these 'journal entries' to not only document the process of directing an animated feature for those interested, but also to attempt to convince worried fans that I'm actually a pretty big geek and fan of the genre - and that I have no intention of softening down the film when the source material is so kick-ass.

I don't know how this is going to turn out, so as a fan I'm not quite willing to wail and gnash my teeth quite yet. Wait and see.

New Gatchaman movie director

Just got a tip in this very here blog that Jun Falkenstein has been chosen to direct the Imagi Gatchaman film. I confirmed this, and here are Falkenstein's other works:

Everyone's Hero (2006) Storyboard Artist

The Tigger Movie (2000) Director, Screenplay

Quest for Camelot (1998) Story

Party at Sam's (1997) Director of Photography

Keep those tips coming, folks!

More Gatchaman Movie Changes...

There was new mention of the Imagi Gatchaman movie from insider Charlie's Blog.

An excerpt:

"The original vision for the film was fun and a bit edgy---appealed to me. The project's been through lots of changes, rewrites (like any film), ended up with a different director recently. The vision's changed since I first joined, and seems to be going towards a younger Power Rangers audience---I wanted to see a Gatchaman that I would love to see, and didn't want to see it go this direction, so I departed from Imagi and took an Art Directing/Character Designing gig on Thundercats."

Now, looking back at the writing on the Battle of the Planets comic, the word "edgy" does not necessarily indicate a good thing. Nor does "Power Rangers audience" indicate a bad thing. I don't think Imagi's TMNT had been especially edgy and had maintained the general feel of the original comic. So again, this may not be horrible, awful news.

On the other hand, I really liked the preliminaries I had the opportunity to see at Imagi, and I liked the direction it was going under Kevin Munroe. I can't help but feel apprehensive about the replanning.

Read the entire posting: here

Thanks, Anonymous, for the link.

Bloody Disgusting Gatchaman Movie News

BloodyDisgusting.com has posted that Kevin Munroe has been signed on to direct the film adaptation of Dylan Dog, a horror comic. Apparently, this means he's no longer holding the reins of the Imagi Gatchaman film. Imagi hasn't posted any official news about this, but the Gatchaman portion of Imagi's web site has eliminated the "Staff" section that contained Munroe's name. Read the blogpost here:

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/11822

First, Paul Dini was slated to work on the project, but then the Gatchaman section disappeared from his forum. Now Kevin Munroe is leaving. I'd had high hopes after meeting him, hearing his plans and seeing his work with TMNT.

Could this mean that the Gatchaman project is being reimagined, or is it slated for cancellation? I've got a bad feeling about this.