Geneon Ent., a division of Dentsu, Inc., has acquired worldwide theatrical and home video distribution rights, excluding Japan and Korea, to the anime feature, Appleseed. The film, acquired from Micott & Basara, was released theatrically in Japan earlier this year and is tentatively scheduled to hit North American theaters late summer 2004, followed by a home video release.
Appleseed marks the first film under the new Geneon Films umbrella, a division dedicated to marketing and distributing live-action and animated feature films from Asia. Geneon Ent. also acquired North American and European distribution rights for the film Tetsujin 28th. The company previously released the anime masterpiece Akira, as well as the hits Patlabor WXIII and Onmyoji.
Based on the manga story by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) and directed by Shinji Aramaki (Bubblegum Crisis), Appleseed is set in the year 2131, after most of the world has been devastated by war. The story chronicles the battle between mankind and bioroids, a race of cybernetic pseudo-clones designed to aid humans in domestic capacities. But when ideologies flare and aggression rises to the surface, the thin veneer of peaceful coexistence is shattered.
The film, which made its North American debut during the American Film Market in February, was created with motion capture animation techniques and features a blend of 2D and 3D.
