Variety reported today that Threshold Entertainment, the company responsible for making the video game Mortal Kombat the fifth largest entertainment property in the world, has obtained all remake rights to the anime classic Ninja Scroll.  Ninja Scroll is just the first of several anime properties that Threshold plans to obtain over the next six months.  Larry Kassanoff, chairman and CEO of Threshold, told Variety, 'Anime is today what videogames were seven years ago -- an entirely different style of entertainment that will be mainstream in the very near future.'  Threshold is planning on creating a $60 million live action version of the Ninja Scroll anime.  Threshold's special effects subsidiary, Threshold Digital Research Labs, will provide the special effects for the live action film.

 

Created in 1994 by Kawajiri Yoshiaki (Demon City, Vampire Hunter D), Ninja Scroll is a classic samurai sword-and-sorcery epic that is universally recognized as one of the top sword-slashing anime titles.  The Ninja Scroll anime is available in both DVD and VHS from Manga Entertainment.

 

Taken together with yesterday's announcement by Fox that it was acquiring the rights to the supremely successful Dragonball Z property (see 'Fox Plans Live Action DBZ'), Threshold's acquisition of Ninja Scroll indicates that Hollywood's interest in anime properties is at an all time high, and that the company feels that Ninja Scroll will become its next blockbuster martial arts franchise.  Threshold has produced two Mortal Kombat films, a Mortal Kombat TV series, and even a stage show for the video game property, all of which have racked up some $4 billion in sales worldwide.  Threshold CEO Kassanoff told Anime News Service, 'We're always looking for extraordinary properties with tremendous growth potential.  Ninja Scroll has all the elements for a multi-billion dollar entertainment franchise.  It's wild, sexy and innovative, and one of the coolest martial arts brands in the world.'

 

The acquisition of DBZ and Ninja Scroll does raise some interesting questions.  Will Hollywood be able to do justice to these classic anime properties while managing the often difficult transition from animation to live action?  Will anime become 'mainstream,' and will these properties become 'franchises?'  This is one trend that pop culture retailers should not ignore, since they have taken the lead in introducing anime and manga to the American public.