Home > WIZARD WORLD PHILLY EXHIBITOR TOP COW TO BRING ‘WITCHBLADE’ TO THE BIG SCREEN
WIZARD WORLD PHILLY EXHIBITOR TOP COW TO BRING ‘WITCHBLADE’ TO THE BIG SCREEN
Arclight Films, Platinum Studios, Inc. and Top Cow Productions today announced a deal to co-produce a feature film based on the action fantasy thriller Witchblade. The best-selling comic book franchise created by Top Cow has sold over 100 million units worldwide since its #1 debut in 1995.
Top Cow, a regular exhibitor at Wizard World comic conventions, will be at Wizard World Philadelphia May 30-June 1 with current Witchblade writer Ron Marz in attendance.
It is anticipated that the film would be shot on location in Australia. The exact story line and nature of the script is being kept under wraps, but will stay true to the Witchblade mythology, which centers around a deadly ornate gauntlet that gives superpowers to the wearer, a chosen female bearer of each generation, who possesses it.
“Witchblade is one of the premier comic-book titles in the world,” said Gary Hamilton, CEO of Arclight. “This property is the cornerstone of our upcoming production and sales slate and we hope to be able to start production in September 2008.”
Hamilton, Nigel Odell, head of Arclight’s production operations, Platinum Studios’ CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Steve Squillante of Havenwood Media are all set to produce. Top Cow’s CEO Marc Silvestri and President Matt Hawkins would serve as executive producers as would Platinum Studios’ Rich Marincic. Former Universal Pictures senior executive Randy Greenberg of the Greenberg Group, who helped negotiate the deal with Platinum Studios General Counsel, Helene Pretsky, would also executive produce. Hawkins and attorney Harris Miller negotiated on behalf of Top Cow.
“In my opinion, Witchblade is one of the finest comic-book properties yet to be made into a full-length feature film,” said Platinum Studios’ Rosenberg. “’I believe that Witchblade’s fantastic origin, intriguing mystery and wonderful story should satisfy the core audience while giving all moviegoers an amazing ride.”
“We have been looking for the right opportunity to bring Witchblade to the big screen,” said Marc Silvestri, CEO of Top Cow. “We are fortunate to have production partners who value the story and the characters so much and have a shared vision.”
The Witchblade comic book has been published in more than 21 languages and distributed in over 55 countries. The notable success of the comic book led to the highly rated made-for-TV movie in 2000, which spawned a weekly series that ran for two seasons on TNT. The property has been licensed all over the world in action figures, magnets, trading cards, posters, lithographs, skateboards, collectible masks, lunch pails, role playing games, collectible Halloween masks, soundtracks, novelizations, die cast cars, Digital DVD comics, statues, Christmas ornaments and multiple toy lines.
Most recently, Witchblade was licensed in Japan to Gonzo Digimation Holding and made into an anime TV show by Studio GONZO. The first season’s 26 original produced half-hour episodes ran on terrestrial television to rave reviews and ratings -- of the 97 different Anime series on the air in 2006, Witchblade was #17 -- and it was the highest anime debut of an American property ever. Late last year, FUNimation released the Japanese anime to the DVD market in the U.S. and it became the #1 Amine DVD debut of 2007. Witchblade is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga.
Buy your tickets for Wizard World Philly today for the chance to meet the people behind Witchblade!
