Way back at the start of the new millennium, there was a show called Samurai Jack. This show was unlike any other, it was an animated program that aired on Cartoon Network created by Genndy Tartakovsky.
The story revolved around a samurai named Jack, who long ago opposed the Master of Darkness, Aku. Aku ripped open a portal of time, sending Jack into the future. After that, Jack had to venture forth in an alternate future where Aku still rules, all to try and return to the past to stop Aku before he can gain power.
Samurai Jack was a powerhouse action show, but it also managed to tell an epic story that was actually far beyond the maturity levels of the children who were watching it. Well, word has gotten out that Genndy Tartakovsky and J.J. Abrams are teaming up to co-produce a Samurai Jack movie for the big screen.
The word is that the film will be a mixture of classic 2-D hand-drawn animation with stereoscopic 3-D. The film is being budgeted at $20 million, so it is safe to assume it is being targeted for a theatrical release and not straight-to-video or something.
I'm actually extremely excited about this. Samurai Jack was a special show to me. It's high quality story and top-tier animation aside, the story had this emotional core to it that I just felt was extremely moving. I've also gotta say that I'm extremely relieved they aren't trying to do this in live action, which I think would be a huge mistake.
For all those involved, I beg you to give this film a PG-13 rating. Make it a hardcore action movie, having Jack battle robots, aliens, and the dreadful Aku, with the same edge that we loved from the cartoon.
There's no release date scheduled at the moment, but look for this one in the near future.
This is AWESOME news. I loved Samurai Jack and pretty much anything else that Gennady ever touched.
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