Category: Announcements

New Syfy Saturday Original Movie “Red” to Star Felicia Day (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Guild, Dr. Horrible’s) in Re-Imagining of Little Red Riding Hood

from SCI FI Wire:

Felicia Day, star of web videos The Guild and Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, who also played “Vi” in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will portray a werewolf-hunting descendant of Little Red Riding Hood in the new Syfy Saturday Original Movie, Red.

Scheduled to premiere in 2011, Red is Syfy’s latest re-imagining of classic fairy tales, legends and pop culture characters. The new line of films launched with Beauty and the Beasts: A Dark Tale, which starred Estella Warren, on February 27.

Syfy, one of television’s most prolific producers of original movies, is also developing films around the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Hansel & Gretel, among other projects.

In the action-packed Red, Red (Day) brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business — hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him. Red also stars Kavan Smith (Stargate Atlantis) and Stephen McHattie (Watchmen). Red is produced by Angela Mancuso and Vesuvius Productions in association with Chesler Perlmutter Productions.

In addition to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicia is most widely known for her work in web video. She co-starred in Joss Whedon’s Internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, which was voted the Best Web TV of 2008 by Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine.

Currently she stars in the web series The Guild, which she created, writes and stars in. The Guild was the winner of the YouTube, Yahoo and SXSW Best Web Series Awards for 2008. The series has generated more than 50 million views web-wide. Day also has a hugely popular Twitter following, reaching more than 1.7 million fans.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 96 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)

“Naruto: Shippuden” Collectible Card Game Shonen Jump Championships

from VIZ Media:

Bandai America Inc. (Bandai) and VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media) are pleased to announce the new Naruto: Shippuden Collectible Card Game (CCG) Shonen Jump Championship Tournaments in North America. There will be multiple tournaments held throughout the United States at select hobby retailers culminating in the National Championships to be held at the Gen Con Indy to take place in Indiana on August 7th and 8th.

Naruto: Shippuden CCG, Bandai America’s top selling collectible card game, is a game of strategy where players construct card decks of Ninja that use their powerful Jutsu to complete Missions and protect their villages. The Naruto: Shippuden CCG currently has hundreds of tournaments held each week at local hobby retailers throughout the United States.

Shonen Jump Championship Tournaments will be accessible to Naruto fans, beginners and experienced CCG players. Experienced players will test their skills against other players in the Shonen Jump Championship Tournaments to win special prizes. New players may redeem special coupons found in Shonen Jump magazine and receive a free Naruto: Shippuden CCG demo kit. Bandai volunteers will also be on location to teach new players how to play. Naruto fans will have the opportunity to receive special Shonen Jump promo cards through special promotions and attendance at the tournaments. Finally, one lucky person will win an autographed promo card signed by Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Shonen Jump.

Shonen Jump Championship Prizes:

  • 1st Place: Shonen Jump Championship Trophy, PlayStation 3 Console, PSP handheld, Naruto: Shippuden CCG hobby booster box, Naruto: Shippuden CCG game mat, and a one year subscription to Shonen Jump magazine
  • 2nd Place: IPod Touch 32GB personal music player, Naruto: Shippuden CCG hobby booster box, Naruto: Shippuden CCG game mat, and a one year subscription to Shonen Jump magazine
  • 3rd-4th Place: PSP Console, Naruto: Shippuden CCG hobby booster box, Naruto: Shippuden CCG game mat, and a one year subscription to Shonen Jump magazine
  • 5th-8th Place: Naruto: Shippuden CCG hobby booster box, Naruto: Shippuden CCG game mat
  • 9th-16th Place: 12 Naruto: Shippuden CCG booster packs
  • 17th-32nd Place: 6 Naruto: Shippuden CCG booster packs
  • 33rd-64th Place: 3 Naruto: Shippuden CCG booster packs

For the most up to date information on the Naruto: Shippuden CCG and to see the official rules, Shonen Jump Championship Tournaments or Bandai America Inc., please visit bandaicg.com/shonenjump or naruto.viz.com/sjtourney.

For more information on Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden please visit NARUTO.com.

Weta Cast Episode XV — Award Season Special

from Weta:

Listen to Weta’s podcast The Weta Cast. Episode XV contains Avatar interviews with Richard Taylor and some of the crew and lots of news from Daniel and Magnus.

Get the inside scoop here!

Special Guests:
Richard Taylor, Rob Gilies, Alex Falkner, Aaron Beck, Leri Greer

Episode XV:
Listen to Richard Taylor and some of the designers and workshop crew talk about Avatar. Also an excerpt from an interview on Fictional Frontiers and LOTS of news!

Listen to Episode XV here!

To be notified in your favourite RSS reader about future podcast episodes, please subscribe:

Subscribe — How does this work?

You can view the original post here.

J!NX: Behind every great man…

from J!NX:

New J!NX Classic Tee: The Witch and the Warrior
It’s said that “Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.” George Washington had Martha, John Lennon had Yoko, Captain Kirk had that green chick. A truly great man knows when to step aside and let his lady show everyone who really wears the pants… or, in this case, purple spandex.

Calling All Artists!
Think you’ve got what it takes to become a J!NX Crew Member? That’s right, we’re hiring! We need exactly one super awesome artist. Check out Superfly’s Spotlight Post for more details.

J!NX on The Jace Hall Show!
Jace Hall, the founder and CEO of Monolith Productions (The Matrix Online, F.E.A.R., Condemned, and more) and Executive Producer of the new hit series V has a show. Really, he does. In its latest season, he’s had Ice-T, Seth McFarlane, and V cast members, among others, all guest star in it. Added to that star-studded line-up are now select members of the J!NX crew. If you haven’t checked it out on IGN.com yet, follow the latest edition of Jinx’s glog to find it. In honor of the episode, we’re running a promo on his new shirts — check it out below.

-Team J!NX

$10 off products for orders $25 or more. Applies only to Jace Hall Show products not currently on sale.

Use Promotion Code: NOREALLYITSASHOW
This offer expires Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at Midnight EST, so don’t wait!

Hold your corpses!

from Raincoast Books:

Dear readers,

The dreadfuls (mind your manners, now, and don’t call them zombies) have returned in Quirk Classics’ latest creation, a fresh novel (i.e., not a mash-up) starring some of Jane Austen’s characters.

On March 3, bloggers across the continent reviewed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (prequel to the über successful PPZ) and said it’s “hilarious and witty,” “snappy and superbly sarcastic” and “very entertaining!” How do you like them brains?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
by Steve Hockensmith
Quirk Books
ISBN 978-1-59474-454-9
$17.95 paperback

With more than one million copies in print, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the surprise publishing phenomenon of 2009. A best seller on three continents, PPZ has been translated into 21 languages and optioned to become a major motion picture. In this terrifying and hilarious prequel, we witness the genesis of the zombie plague in early-nineteenth-century England. We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naive young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchuks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry.

Written by acclaimed novelist (and Edgar Award nominee) Steve Hockensmith, Dawn of the Dreadfuls invites Austen fans to step back into Regency England, Land of the Undead!

Also available:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Classic Regency Romance, now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Quirk Books
ISBN 978-1-59474-334-4
$17.95 paperback

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Quirk Books
ISBN 978-1-59474-442-6
$16.95 paperback

Thanks for reading the Raincoast newsletter!

Sarah Taggart

Bruce Wayne Returns!

from Things from Another World:

You knew the DCU couldn’t survive without Bruce Wayne for long. Superstar writer Grant Morrison tackles his most ambitious project to date with Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne, a special six-part series that chronicles the return of the original man behind Batman’s cape and cowl!

Each issue spans a different era of time and features the dynamic artwork of one of today’s artistic juggernauts, starting with Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong) on the extra-sized issue #1 and Frazer Irving (Seven Soldiers: Klarion) on the 40-page issue #2!

To read more about the series, check out the interview with Grant Morrision on our blog.

Order the First Two Issues Today

Read More About the Series on Our Blog

VIZ Media to Release New Fantasy Adventure Series “Arata: The Legend” from Renowned Manga Creator Yuu Watase

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings famed manga creator Yuu Watase’s potent blend of mythical fantasy adventure and lavish artwork for the North American debut of Arata: The Legend on March 9th. The new series is published under the Shonen Sunday imprint, rated “T” for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

In a world where humans and gods coexist, Arata is the unfortunate successor to the matriarchal Hime Clan — unfortunate because if he’s not cross-dressing to hide his gender one minute, he’s fleeing for his life the next! When Arata winds up in the modern world and switches places with a boy named Arata Hinohara, it’s a wonder which Arata is actually better off…

In Volume 1, Hinohara is the spitting image of Arata, so he suddenly finds himself fighting people after his life! As he navigates through this foreign world filled with power-hungry warriors, who will come to his aid? One thing’s for sure — it’s not easy being Arata!

“I’m really excited to see Arata: The Legend joining the Shonen Sunday imprint. The art is gorgeous, the series is action-packed and no one can create a lush fantasy world the way Yuu Watase can!” says Amy Yu, Editor, VIZ Media. “Fans who know her work in the shojo genre will experience a whole new side to this creative mastermind.”

Born March 5 in Osaka, Yuu Watase debuted in the Shôjo Comic manga anthology in 1989. She won the 43rd Shogakukan Manga Award with Ceres: Celestial Legend. One of her most famous works is Fushigi Yûgi, a series that has inspired the prequel Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden. In 2008, Arata: The Legend started serialization in Weekly Shonen Sunday.

Arata: The Legend is one of the newest titles under VIZ Media’s Shonen Sunday imprint, the new standard for riveting stories and creative excellence. Titles under this imprint are more than shonen stories with struggling heroes and endless battles. Shonen Sunday characters are tested both mentally and physically, asked to prove their worth alongside loyal allies and encounter legends that have outlasted time itself. Each manga series under the Shonen Sunday imprint will enchant the reader with tales from Japan’s top manga creators featuring complex, intriguing characters in richly imagined worlds.

For more information on this title or other Shonen Sunday series, please visit shonensunday.com.

U.S. Troops Overseas Set to Receive “Mass Effect: Redemption”

from Dark Horse Comics:

In conjunction with the release of the third explosive issue of Mass Effect: Redemption, Dark Horse Comics announced today that they will be donating 5,000 copies of the first issue of this popular series, which has sold out across the country, to U.S. Armed Forces troops around the world.

Dark Horse will work with Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) to ensure that these issues of Mass Effect: Redemption make it into the hands of the men and women serving in the U.S. military throughout the world. Every year publishers’ donations of Free Comic Book Day issues are sent to troops via PMG, this time the annual payload will be stocked with thousands of issues of Mass Effect: Redemption #1 for America’s fighting men and women. Copies will make their way to military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as at bases in Europe and the Far East.

Mass Effect: Redemption tells the exciting back-story that led up to the events of Mass Effect 2, the recently released video game developed by the award-winning creative team at BioWare. The game’s lead writer Mac Walters takes up the pen to give fans exclusive insight into the events that unfolded between the conclusion of the original Mass Effect, and the beginning of Mass Effect 2. Scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Invincible Iron Man) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars: Legacy), this four-part series explores the exotic and dangerous future Milky Way of Mass Effect, revealing previously unseen locations, aliens, and enemies of this rich science fiction landscape.

The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, players will step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, commanding a crew of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it’s potentially suicidal. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich futuristic storyline, stunning space exploration and emotionally engaging characters, the game delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience. Mass Effect 2 was released on the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system and PC on January 26, 2010 in North America and January 29, 2010 in Europe and has been rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB and “18+” by PEGI (please visit esrb.org and pegi.eu for more information on ratings). For more news from the development team, please follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/masseffect2 or visit the game’s official website at masseffect.bioware.com.

For those who have yet to read the explosive comic series, both the first and second issues are currently available for download on iTunes for just 99 cents each.

Mass Effect: Redemption is the fifth title to arrive in Dark Horse’s ever-growing stable of comics available on the iPhone platform. Other titles available now include Gerard Way’s smash hit Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, Terminator: Death Valley, and multiple titles from the critically acclaimed line of Star Wars comics.

For more information, please visit www.darkhorse.com/Features/Mobile.

VIZ Pictures Continues to Expand the NEW PEOPLE Artist Series with the DVD Release of “Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau”

from VIZ Pictures:

VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC, that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, will release the newest volume of its ongoing NEW PEOPLE Artist Series — Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau. This interesting documentary follows the life of one of the most talented young artists in Japan today. The DVD, due to release on March 9th with an MSRP of $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN, will be distributed by VIZ Media.

Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau presents a look into the artist Hisashi Tenmyouya, a graphic designer turned contemporary artist, and his NEO-Traditional Japanese Painting style. He uses gold foil and fine brushes to prepare for various exhibitions while people surrounding the artist share their thoughts. In this film, Tenmyouya reveals his soul through the melding of modern urban subjects with traditional painting methods.

In celebration of this new release, VIZ Pictures has scheduled special screenings of Hisashi Tenmyouya at VIZ Cinema on Saturday, March 6th at 1:00 pm, and Sunday, March 7th at 3:00 pm. VIZ Cinema is located inside NEW PEOPLE, a newly opened entertainment destination in San Francisco at 1746 Post Street devoted to Japanese pop culture. For more information about this event, please visit vizcinema.com or viz-pictures.com.

“Hisashi Tenmyouya has shown steadily since his first show in 1990 at age 24, including shows at the Whitney in New York and others in Tokyo, Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid, Kiev and Sao Paulo,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of VIZ Pictures and the founder of NEW PEOPLE. “Besides winning the Taro Okamoto Memorial Award in 2003, he was chosen as one of 14 artists in the world to participate in the design of the FIFA World Cup Poster for the 2006 World Cup. We’re honored to release this new documentary and look forward to more people discovering the world of Hisashi Tenmyouya.”

The NEW PEOPLE Artist Series is an intriguing collection of documentaries introducing modern Japanese Pop artists to the American audience. All of the highlighted artists possess unique views and inspirations, allowing them to create captivating works of art. For more information on the NEW PEOPLE Artist Series visit viz-pictures.com or newpeopleartistseries.com, and for information on movie schedules at VIZ Cinema, please visit vizcinema.com.

For more information on DVD titles distributed by VIZ Media please visit viz.com.

ElfQuest at WonderCon: San Francisco, April 2-4

from ElfQuest:

Hello!

If you’re in (or able to get to) the San Francisco area April 2-4, Wendy and Richard Pini will be attending WonderCon (http://comic-con.org/wc/) for the entire show. We’ll also have a table in Artist’s Alley promoting both ElfQuest and Masque of the Red Death, so stop on by to chat or get a book (or ten) autographed. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

Shade and sweet cable cars,
Richard Pini