SHOUT! FACTORY ANNOUNCES R1 DVD RELEASE FOR ULTRA Q
Tentative DVD cover for the upcoming release of Ultra Q
The series that started it all will finally get a region 1 DVD release this August. Tsuburaya Production's first series and predecessor to Ultraman, Ultra Q, will get a complete series box set courtesy of Shout! Factory. Shout! Factory previously released Ultraseven on DVD last year, just released the dubbed version of Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot in March, and also handles the DVD releases of several of Saban's tokusatsu adaptations including Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and VR Troopers. The complete 28-episode series will be released on August 13th for an MSRP of $59.98, but Amazon is currently offering it for a pre-order price of $41.98.
Early reports have indicated that the series will actually use the colorized masters Tsuburaya produced for HD broadcasts and the recent Blu-ray release instead of the original black and white broadcast version, but that has not yet been officially confirmed. The only special feature that has been announced is an extensive essay written by kaiju historian August Ragone on the history and production of the series, and it is expected the set will be subtitled-only like Shout!'s release of Ultraseven.
[Courtesy of Amazon.com, Shout! Factory and August Ragone]
SEVERAL ACTORS SET NOT TO APPEAR IN POWER RANGERS: SUPER MEGAFORCE
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing week for Power Rangers fans. Several veteran actors of the 20-year franchise based on Super Sentai took to Twitter to answer fans' questions on whether they would return for the new season Power Rangers: Super Megaforce. Unfortunately, the answers were usually negative, with some actors having declined the offer and others claiming they weren't even invited. Power Rangers:
Super Megaforce is the highly-anticipated adaptation of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, the anniversary sentai most notable for bringing back dozens of actors from the entire franchise with at least one veteran representing every single season. Naturally, longtime fans of PR expected similar treatment, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Actors that have confirmed they will NOT return due to declining the offer for various reasons (lack of respect, risk of losing money from full-time jobs), or being uninvited include:
David Yost: Billy/Blue Power Ranger - Felt generic letter Saban sent out showed lack of respect
Steve Cardenas: Rocky/2nd Red Power Ranger - Thought role was too small and pay was too low
Karan Ashley: Aisha/2nd Yellow Power Ranger - Didn't appreciate generic Saban letter
Rhett Fisher: Ryan/Titanium Lightspeed Ranger - Invited, then uninvited due to "budget restrictions"
Erin Cahill: Jen/Time Force Pink - Union reasons
Caitlin Murphy: Ronny/Yellow Overdrive Ranger - Invited, hasn't heard back from Saban
Actors that have confirmed they were not invited include:
Alan Palmer: Corcus/Black Alien Ranger - Also claims that none of the Alien Rangers were invited
DiFillipo Triplets: Trey/Gold Ranger (Zeo)
Pua Magasiva: Shane/Red Wind Ranger (Ninja Storm)
Jason Chan: Cameron/Green Samurai Ranger (Ninja Storm)
Sally Martin: Blue Wind Ranger (Ninja Storm)
Matt Austin: Bridge/Green & Blue S.P.D. Ranger
Brandon Jay McLaren: Jack/Red S.P.D. Ranger
Chris Violette: Sky/Blue & Red S.P.D. Ranger
Melanie Vallejo: Madison/Blue Mystic Ranger
David de Lautour: RJ/Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger
Daniel Ewing: Dillon/Ranger Operator Series Black (RPM)
Filming is set to begin for the tribute episodes and scenes involving all of the Power Rangers on May 25th. Also, Bandai has claimed that they will not produce Ranger Keys for the American-only Rangers such as the Titanium Ranger and the Spirit Rangers.
[Courtesy of RangerCrew Blog]
FIRST WIZARD MOVIE IMAGES AND KYORYUUGER MOVIE TITLE REVEALED
A first look at the summer Wizard movie, featuring the Golden Wizard
News continues to trickle in about the annual summer Super Hero Time double-feature. The image above features our first look at the Kamen Rider Wizard movie's villain: the Golden Wizard, and his army of followers. The film is slated to take place within the main series, as Haruto travels to the Land of Magic to take on this foe. The Golden Wizard will have his own set of Rings, and Kamen Rider Wizard will get a new Ring exclusive to the movie as well. No title has been announced yet, but that is expected to change soon.
The front page of the script for the Kyoryuuger movie
The title for the Kyoryuuger movie has been revealed, however. Called Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuuger The Movie: Gaburincho of Music, the film will be the first musical in sentai's history. The title was revealed by an extra who leaked this front page of the script he/she was provided onto the internet. Over 600 extras aged 10-50 were hired for an elaborate dance sequence, wand several female dancers will be displaying their curves. Just in case if you forgot this was a film directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Riku Sanjo writes the film that will also introduce a movie-exclusive Zyudenryu and his Kyoryuuger partner.
TWO VILLAINS RETURN FOR KAMEN RIDER: BATTRIDE WAR
Two notable big baddies announced they would return for the upcoming PS3 action game Kamen Rider: Battride War. First, Tomoyuki Dan will reprise his role as the creepy doctor Shinkuro Isaka/Weather Dopant from Kamen Rider W. Then, Kamen Rider Fourze's main villain, the Sagittarius Zodiarts, will once again be played by Shingo Tsurumi. The game comes out on May 23rd, meaning that we should at least expect 4 more voice acting announcements before the game is released.
[Courtesy of the official Battride War blog]
SUPER HERO WAR Z FALLS TO 6TH PLACE
It seems official now that Kamen Rider x Super Sentai x Uchu Keiji: Super Hero War Z will be a box office disappointment. In its second weekend, the new mega-crossover from Toei was the only film to drop in the top 10 of the Japanese box office, despite there only being one new nationwide release (Warner Bros.'s Gangster Squad, which opened in 9th). The film dropped by over 40%, gaining another $1.4 million USD for a total so far of $6.8 million. It now seems a foregone conclusion that the best Super Hero War Z can hope for is $15 million, a huge drop from the $26 million Super Hero War made last year.
[Courtesy of Tokyo Hive]
I'm surprised by how bad Saban seems to be handling the Gokaiger adaptation.
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