CG animation studio Rainmaker Ent. has signed on to develop and produce Legion of 5, a series of animated superhero films from legendary Marvel comic-book creator Stan Lee’s POW! Ent. and Brighton Partners. Jointly by Rainmaker, POW! and Brighton, the property will be supported by traditional and electronic comics, games, merchandising and online/mobile releases.
Best known for creating or co-creating such comic icons as the X-Men, Spider-man, The Fantastic Four and The Hulk, Lee is keeping details of this latest creation under wraps. More information will likely surface at this weekend’s New York Comic-Con, where he will receive the inaugural New York Comics Legend Award at a special VIP party at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square.
‘Between Rainmaker and POW! we hope to offer the public a visually exciting, thrill-a-minute, new type of entertainment that’ll knock the viewers’ socks off!’ Lee remarks.
The partnership between POW!, Brighton and Rainmaker was arranged by Rainmaker’s Aaron L. Gilbert, who will serve as an exec producer on the property, alongside Lee and POW! partner Gill Champion, Rainmaker exec VP Paul Gertz and Brighton Partners’ Cord Beatty.
Originally established in 1993 as Mainframe Ent., Vancouver-based Rainmaker has produced close to 40 feature-length films based on top international brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Spider-Man, Casper, Popeye, Tony Hawk, Stuart Little and Inspector Gadget, and more than 250 half-hours of CG animated television including ReBoot, Transformers: Beast Wars, Action Man and Heavy Gear. Currently in production at the studio is the theatrical feature Escape From Planet Earth for The Weinstein Co., as well as an animated remake of The Nutty Professor and new installments in Mattel’s Barbie and Max Steel franchises.
