It's been tough for Bryan Barber the last few years. You probably don't know him, and since his feature debut, the Outkast starring Prohibition musical Idlewild didn't exactly light up the box office, you might not know his work either unless you're a fan of the group's crazy music videos. But it's been slow going ever since, and tired of not landing any directing gigs, Barber decided to take the initiative.
Tracking down Fred Ladd, the 86 year old voiceover talent who held the rights to the Japanese anime, Gigantor, Barber approached him with a detailed presentation and walked away a happy man. Now holding onto the total film and merchandising rights to Gigantor, Barber is ready to storm studios with an outline and sizzle reel for a $60M budgeted flick, with himself as director of course.
Originally a manga created in 1956 by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the Japanese anime was released in 1964 before hitting America a year later(by Ladd) as Gigantor. It tells the story of 12-year old Little Jimmy Sparks, who takes over control of Gigantor, a robot designed by his father as a weapon of war, and turns it into a force for peace.
Robots may be popular, but that's no guarantee of success, especially since adaptations of Japanese animes are a mixed bag. Remember Astro Boy? But I dig Barber's aggressiveness and refusal to just let himself fade into Hollywood obscurity. With fewer big money flicks getting made nowadays, and the pool of steadily working filmmakers also dwindling, I hope we see more stories like this. [Deadline]
