Hi all! Finally, some news regarding the CG Gatchaman movie -- indirectly at least. Apparently Kevin Munroe is no longer going to be the Director for the film. You can see the story here: http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/11822 While I'm sure that Imagi won't ever officially acknowledge this (Studios will happily announce when they've signed someone on, but are always quiet if they leave), I do notice that the Gatchaman portion of their website has quietly eliminated the "Staff" section that was headlined by Munroe. Just figured you'd want to know! James

Interesting... I wonder what happened? I noticed yesterday that they had a new marketing release, and at the end they re-iterated that Gatchaman and Astro Boy were still scheduled for worldwide release in 2009.

Hmm, I wonder if Monroe wanted to leave, or if he was ousted, or maybe it was some kind of unavoidable scheduling conflict, resulting from the writers' strike. This makes me a bit nervous. When movies start losing and replacing directors, it's rarely a good sign.

Now I'm scared...I know they are still saying 2009...but I hope this doesn't mean the film will be canned...

ITA, this makes me a little nervous too and I had the same thought that Springie did (hope they don't cancel production). Personally, I thought Munroe was a good pick. He's a fan of anime and was a fan of Gatch (at least from what I remember hearing) so I thought he would do well directing. I only hope that whomever replaces him is also a fan of the genre and has at least some working knowledge of the show itself (meaning they've actually watched Gatch and are not basing the movie on what they remember from watching BoTP all those years ago). Thanks for the update, though, James! Hopefully you'll have some more news for us about this soon!

Thanks for the update and I agree with Hino. Hopefully the next director knows something about Gatch and not just remembers bits of BOTP and is a fan of the Genre. Look at The Lord Of The Rings films. Peter Jackson was a good choice, despite me worrying over what the films were going to be like.

Originally posted by lborgia88 Hmm, I wonder if Monroe wanted to leave, or if he was ousted, or maybe it was some kind of unavoidable scheduling conflict, resulting from the writers' strike. This makes me a bit nervous. When movies start losing and replacing directors, it's rarely a good sign.

It makes me curious too. The pessimist in me leads me to think that "creative differences" must have had something to do with it. And I totally agree with you...not a good sign....

Thanks for informing us James. Though I must lean towards the way of most on this thread.... I think someone needs to so I can still try to keep optimistic about a release date.

Hi all! In a new interview on IESB.net, Munroe is talking about Dylan Dog, but does have a little to say about "Gatchaman." Here's what he says: IESB: So if you are directing Dylan Dog that obviously means you are no longer working on Gatchaman, what happened there? KM: Y'know, I put in quite a few years at Imagi, and we built something amazing on TMNT with a group of talented people out of a basement in Encino. It was a blast and I am thankful to have done it. With Gatchaman, I guess you can say it came down to creative differences. I'm a little heartbroken to walk away, as I'm still a huge fan of the property and its potential. But I'm glad that at least we got to share a little of my version of the movie in those images we released last year. At the end of the day, I wish Imagi the best of luck for the future. If you want to see the entire interview, it can be found here: IESB.Net It's probably the most that we'll ever hear from him on the subject. James

Nope, its doomed

Hmmmm.... creative differences. Munroe wanted those dark and depressing scenes...? Of course, they were also very action-oriented. SO now I'm wondering what the 'new' vision is...

He obviously doesnt care abvout Dylan Dog. Moving the action from London to Neiw Amsterdam...London is a much more stylish city. Ok, its go no skyscrapers but London doesnt `need` skyscrapers.

Hmm...yeah creative differences. Geez, that could leave it open to a number of things. I just hope it doeasnt turn into some floofy goody goody kiddy cartoon. You know taking it overboard... but i havent seen too much of that lately so....well....guess we'll just have to wait and see.... meh... and pleez no obnoxious censoring robots....

I guess all we can do is wait to see some new concept art -maybe by the time Imagi officially announces that Jun Falkenstein is the new director, they'll have some to show.

At the rate Imagi is going, the film will be out before they announce the new director! I mean, it's already the best-kept secret in the movie/anime world!

Originally posted by tatsunokofan Hi all! [quote] KM: Y'know, I put in quite a few years at Imagi, and we built something amazing on TMNT with a group of talented people out of a basement in Encino. It was a blast and I am thankful to have done it. With Gatchaman, I guess you can say it came down to creative differences. I'm a little heartbroken to walk away, as I'm still a huge fan of the property and its potential. But I'm glad that at least we got to share a little of my version of the movie in those images we released last year. At the end of the day, I wish Imagi the best of luck for the future. If you want to see the entire interview, it can be found here: IESB.Net It's probably the most that we'll ever hear from him on the subject. James

He's being diplomatic there, not wanting to say to much to create future tension with Imagi. So really he's not going to give the real reason. Form what I saw of Jun she's open to keeping it close to the series. After all, she is a Swan!