Sony to Distribute Japans’ Marvel Heroes
To handle international properties for worldwide distribution, Sony has created the Intl. Product Expansion Group according to Variety.
Tony Ishizuka will serve as Vice President of the unit. T. Paul Miller, senior VP of international for home entertainment said the “goal is to recoup its investment in each project in the country in which it was produced or acquired. The unit will then assess each title’s prospects for distribution on home entertainment in other markets.”
A deal has already been signed with Japan’s Madhouse which will involve the previously announced deal to produce Easternized versions of Marvel’s heroes. The shows will be broadcast in Japan on the Animax TV network and then be handled worldwide by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Originally designed as animated fare, the long-range plans call for the Marvel Japanese Universe to be found on mobile devices and comic books.
The first characters to undergo transformation will be Iron Man and Wolverine in thirty-minute anime intended for Japanese television in 2010.
Madhouse was founded in 1972 and is seen as a creative powerhouse in Asia, perhaps best known for its Vampire Hunter D.