Imagi is selling shares in the company for an increase in funding that will hopefully increase its " development of four full-length feature computer graphics imagery animation movies, scheduled tentatively to be released from 2009 to 2011." Imagi is already set to release movies of the classics Astro Boy and Gatchaman. It's probably a safe bet that the other two releases designated for those years (they'll put out a movie every 8 months) will most likely be anime as well.

Hollywood is mad for live action anime remakes: Leonardo DiCaprio's production company and Warner Brothers are set to bring Akira to life, and Stephen Spielberg and DreamWorks are recreating the immensely popular Ghost in the Shell, which will also be 3-D. But I'm most excited for the re-creation of Robotech, and the mecha-warriors of the future.

I'm looking forward to a year of introducing the world of anime to the mainstream audience, I especially would like to see what everyone will think of Takashi Murakami Planting the Seeds feature film.

It's a mere matter of months until we start seeing more American live action flicks with school girl's toting around weaponry Mai HiME style, and is it wishful thinking to hope for a epic fantasy remake of InuYasha? I say the more girls in school outfits blowing up the world, the better.

Sadly, the synopsis doesn't sound that great, with its references to "spiritual decay" and Jazz singers:

Simeon Rockwell is a man who becomes infected with a spiritual disease. His past and now this disease, forces Simeon to wrestle with his own inner demons and help rid the world of this virus. Simeon is aided by a beautiful female Jazz Singer named Satia Niall, who helps him in understanding his place in the greater struggle of mankind. Simeon realizes that time is running out and he must act fast to stop the spiritual predator who wants to bring about the downfall of society. During the course of this adventure, Simeon and Satia both change, as they bring out the best in each other; and eventually fall in love.

And he wants to turn it into a live-action 3D movie. Written by Jamie Moss, whose only other work was on Street Kings, a cop actioner currently in theaters. I've actually been wanting to see Street Kings (Keanu Reeves is not Moss' fault, after all) and I like the idea of bringing in a writer with a flair for cop action. Ghost in the Shell is, after all, a cop movie. The main plot arc involves solving a crime of the future: non-consensual brain hacking. And I'm willing to admit Spielberg did make one hell of a slick, menacing dystopia in A.I. — as long as you ignore the egregiously awful ending.

Still, I'm worried the film will lose its freaky philosophical edge when translated into Spielbergese. This is a complicated story based on a famous manga series, which has spawned several movie sequels, games, and TV shows in Japan. Fans are going to have high expectations, and throwing lots of Dreamworks money at the movie to meet those expectations isn't the right way to go. Sure we want to see some awesome effects, and a fully-realized New Port City. But we really need good writing and plotting to make sure nothing is lost in translation.

Dreamworks Doing 3D Live Action Version of Ghost in the Shell [Quiet Earth]

• First of all, let's turn to the historical similarities. Back in 1986, Francis Ford Coppolla directed (and George Lucas executive produced) Disney's Captain EO, which was turned into an attraction at Disneyland, Disneyworld's Epcot Center, and later at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Michael Jackson starred as EO, and Anjelica Huston played the evil Supreme Leader who was a horrific cybernetic queen who lived in a giant rat's nest of tentacles and cables. EO sang her a song and turned her pretty multiple times every day before fading away in 1998.
• In 1989, Masamune Shirow's famous Ghost in the Shell manga started appearing in Japan. As Major Motoko begins following the trail of the mysterious "Puppeteer," they eventually capture one of the cybernetic bodies that he/she has "ghost hacked" into. Just before falling into government hands, the body had thrown itself in front of a bus, which didn't leave her body fully intact. No arms, no lower torso, and a dangling spinal column. Oh, and no clothes, either.
• Mamoru Oshii directed the animated version of Ghost in the Shell in 1995, giving us a better look at the now-named "Puppet Master," who looks much like he/she did in the manga, except without that scowling countenance. Maybe getting some color and a little animation did wonders for his/her complexion. Plus they still haven't managed to find a halter top or anything.
• When Star Trek's Data met the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact in 1996, she looked a lot like a combination of both the Ghost in the Shell puppet-body, and the evil queen from Captain EO. Although she had a much splotchier complexion and didn't look so good once all of the skin got burned off her face, but she was cybernetically sexy as she got lowered into her sleek body. Plus, Data got a little Borg action from her, so she couldn't have been all bad.
• Of course, it's hard to look at any of these ladies without comparing them to the Venus de Milo. While she may have her lower torso intact and her spinal column tucked away nicely, she's still armless and mysterious. Plus she's locked away in the Louvre behind that giant glass pyramid and the Da Vinci code, so who knows what secrets the 2000 year old statue is keeping. She might be the mother of all Terminators, for all we know.