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Directors Named for Japanese-Animated Batman Video
posted on by Mikhail Koulikov
DC Comics and Warner Home Video have confirmed the five Japanese directors and the release date for the Batman: Gotham Knight anthology of animated shorts. The directors are Shoujirou Nishimi (Mind Game key animator, Tekkonkinkreet character designer and overall animation director), Futoshi Higashide (Giant Robo key animator, Saber Marionette J animation director), Hiroshi Morioka (.hack//SIGN unit director, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE co-director), Yasuhiro Aoki (Animatrix's "Beyond" key animator, Tweeny Witches director) and Toshiyuki Kubooka (Gunbuster chief animation director, Giant Robo character designer). Previously, Warner had announced that Japan's Studio 4°C, Madhouse, and Production I.G would be creating the animation, but had not announced any specific directors until now.
As reported in December, the script for the film will be created by a team of American writers, including Josh Olson, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his A History of Violence script, comics writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello, screenwriters David Goyer and Alan Burnett, and The Dark Knight producer Jordan Goldberg.
The project will be released throughout North America on standard DVD and high-definition Blu-ray Disc on July 8. On the same date, it will be made available via video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and digital downloads. It will also be supported by a major natonwide publicity campaign, to include extensive print advertising and coverage as well as promotional television spots. Gotham Knight will be released as a standard US$24.98 DVD and a two-disc special edition, with extras including a selection of episodes from the mid-1990s Batman: The Animated Series and a documentary on Bob Kane, the creator of Batman. The special edition will be priced at US$29.98, while the Blu-ray release, which will also include the special edition's extras, is set to retail at US$34.98.
