The screenwriter, Laeta Kalogridis, also noted that fans should “cross your fingers”, because it has a female lead, which me be a bit of a road bump for a Hollywood film unfortunately.  Also of note, was that she spoke at a Q&A session after a screening of the new film Shutter Island.  At one time, Kalogridis was to pen the script for James Cameron’s adaptation of Battle Angel Alita.  When asked about the film’s status, she answered, “You have to ask Jim”.  So it seems quite a tight lip is on these two anime adaptations right now.  Stay tuned for hopefully more in the coming weeks.  For now, you can discuss this over on our forums.

Spoke with Michael today and got some little info on TF3: there will be big action sequences shot in Chicago and Moscow this time around.

Transformers 3 is set to release in theaters on July 01, 2011.

Head over to the Forum to discuss.

Source: Coming Soon

In Yankee-kun to Megane-chan’s story, class representative Hana goes all out to drag Daichi into school activities and their high school’s social circles. Daichi learns that Hana was secretly a former delinquent herself, and that is why she tries so hard to reform Daichi as well.

Source: Anime News Network

Tse and David Hayter (X-Men, The Scorpion King) co-wrote the live-action film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen graphic novel. Tse and Watchmen director Zack Snyder also co-wrote the Tales of the Black Freighter animated video based on Watchmen’s “comic-within-a-comic” story. Tse has since written a script for Warner Brothers’ planned new film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man classic short story anthology. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tse is scripting a proposed film version of John Twelve Hawks’ Fourth Realm trilogy of science-fiction novels.

Source: Anime News Network, Hollywood Reporter

So it looks like not only are we getting a live action Vampire Hunter D, but also a new anime series to go along with the live action film.

Source: Anime News Network

Source: ComingSoon.net

Shock Till You Drop has posted an interview with Laeta Kalogribis, the current screenwriter for Steven Spielberg’s planned live-action adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell cyber-police manga. Kalogridis was once also hired by James Cameron to script his planned adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga. She is also an executive producer and screenwriter on Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and an executive producer on Cameron’s Avatar.

Kalogribis confirms that she is is still working on the draft of the script for Ghost in the Shell. When asked if Steven Spielberg came to her to adapt the manga, she said, “Dreamworks has the material and I have loved it for years and years and years. They contacted me about it when they found out that I was interested. I mean, there’s just no other property quite like it.” She also added, the film “could actually be three two-hour movies, which is what I would vote for.”

In a separate development,MTV.com posted a clip from a video interview with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio regarding his next project. When asked if DiCaprio’s next project will be the live-action film adaptation of  Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga or Twilight Zone, DiCaprio said, “You know, you never want to say anything is going to happen in this town, because everything gets thrown out the window one day and is green-lit the next.”

DiCaprio explained why neither films are his top priority right now, saying, “It’s all about the material at the end of the day, that’s why (Shutter Island) is something of a godsend. When you get good material, you have to jump on it and try to make it as best you can, because it is few and far between.”

Last week the New York Magazine’s Vulture blog reported that the Hughes brothers — the directors behind Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, From Hell, and The Book of Eli — are negotiating with the Warner Brothers movie studio to direct the film. Sometime this week and official statement from Warner Brothers will be made regarding to the Huges brothers directing Akria.

Source: Anime News Network

Well it looks like director James Cameron is planning on adapting Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga after he makes the sequel to the blockbuster Avatar. That’s what Producer Jon Landau told the MTV Splash Page website. He also explained how director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Hobbit) was the one who brought the manga to Cameron’s and his attention.

Landau also explained how it was screenwriter Laeta Kalogribis (Shutter Island, Ghost in the Shell) that expanded Camerons and his own awareness of the manga after she was brought onboard. Cameron and Landau were familiar with one of the manga volumes and the anime, but Kalogribis “opened us up to the other nine books that exist, and how rich that world is.”

As a result, Cameron decided to make Avatar first. Landau added, “We really wanted to take our time in developing a large arc-ing story that really encompasses the whole world [of Battle Angel Alita]. We were very close to doing that movie before we did Avatar, and I think you’ll see that resurface. That’s a story in our minds about: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to fall in love? Are you human if you have a heart? Are you human if you have a mind? Or are you human if you just have a body? It’s a journey of self-discovery for a young girl.”

Source: Anime News Network

Thanks go out to joeydlf for sending us the link.

Source: Anime Vice

It’s finally arrived: only a few days after its spot at the Superbowl, the full theatrical trailer for The Last Airbender hit the internet last night. At a little over two minutes, it expands on the some of the footage we’ve already seen in flashed with other bits and pieces that are entirely new. Some of the acting (”I knew you were real. I always knew you’d return”) occurs as a bit wooden, but on the plus side, some of the effects shots look gigantic and the choreography is superb. Check it out below:

For further discussion, head over to the forums.