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Ultraman: Rising CG Animated Film Premieres at Annecy on June 12
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
This year's Annecy will take place from June 9-15 in the French town of the same name. Established in 1960, Annecy is the world's oldest and largest animation film festival.
Shannon Tindle (animator for Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings) is making his feature directorial debut with this film, with John Aoshima as co-director. Tsuburaya Productions and Industrial Light and Magic are credited as the production companies. Tindle is also co-writing the film with Marc Haimes. Tom Knott is credited as producer, and Lisa Poole as co-producer. The film is based on characters by Eiji Tsuburaya (Godzilla, Ultraman).
The staff is aiming to cast "a mix of Japanese and western stars, coupled with a large number of below-the-line talent from Japan." The cast includes Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, and Julia Harriman.
Tsuburaya describes the film:
Baseball superstar Ken Sato returns to his home country of Japan to pick up the mantle of Earth-defending superhero Ultraman, but quickly finds more than he bargained for when he's forced to raise the offspring of his greatest foe, a newborn Kaiju. Struggling to balance the roles of teammate and new father, Ken must confront his own ego, his estranged father, and the conniving Kaiju Defense Force to rise up and discover what it truly means to be Ultraman.
Netflix previously debuted an Ultraman CG anime based on Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi's Ultraman (manga 2011) in April 2019. Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki directed the anime at Production I.G. The anime's final season Ultraman Final had a worldwide Netflix debut in May 2023.
Studio Khara's Shin Ultraman film debuted in Japan in May 2022 and ranked at #1 in its first weekend. The film earned a combined total of US$601,490 in its U.S. screenings in January 2023. The film also screened in the U.K., Ireland, and Canada.
