IMAGI Holdings confirmed that the CGI animation movie adaptation of Tatsunoko Productions' classic anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman has been discontinued.
It started after the 2009 Astroboy film earned less than US$40 million on a US$65 million production budget. As a result, IMAGI Animation Studio closed down. However, IMAGI Holdings remained and could still outsource animation on its adaptation licenses for Astroboy and Tatsunoko Production's Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (also known as G-Force in the Philippines and the US).
Instead, earlier this year IMAGI decided to bet on Chinese characters Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, along with their related consumer goods.
"We choose to buy the copyright of Pleasant Goat because of its influence as a national brand, like Mickey Mouse in the United States and the Japan's Hello Kitty," said Leung Pak To, director and chairman of the company. With the purchase of copyright manager Toon Express, Imagi began as relaunch as a character brand company. The company's 2011 financial results reported a loss of 82.2 million Hong Kong dollars (about US$10.5 million) related to Gatchaman and Astro Boy.
Well, there goes our chance to have a Gatchaman revival. All that we'll have is the trailer.
Sources: Anime News Network and Crunchyroll via Orends: Range
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