This fall the LEGO Group is refreshing its Bionicle line of toys in conjunction with the release of a direct-to-DVD animated feature, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, which is being produced by Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Tinseltown Toons.  The film, which will be entirely created by means of computer animation, features the voice of Michael Dorn, who played Lieutenant Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation, as the Bionicle film protagonist Mata Nui.

 

In this reboot of the Bionicle franchise the once powerful ruler Mata Nui finds himself exiled to a decaying wasteland where he has to fight for his own survival in a giant gladiatorial combat.  Once he is victorious the local villagers make him their champion and he and his band of gladiators have to take on (Seven Samurai-style) the Skrall and the Bone Hunters who have been ravaging the countryside.

 

In August LEGO is releasing a new line of constructible action figures based on characters from the film.  Six mighty Glatorian figures along with a variety of the Skrall and Bone Hunters characters will be available in a line of constructible action figures that will range in price from $6.99 to $89.99.

 

In addition to the Bionicle toys from LEGO, Papercutz is continuing its line of Bionicle Graphic Novels.  A fifth full color Bionicle Graphic Novel is due for release in May with a sixth volume likely for fall when its publication will coincide with the release of the Bionicle: The Legend Reborn DVD and the new constructible action figures from LEGO.  The first Bionicle Graphic Novel, which Papercutz published last June, sold out its first printing of 25 thousand copies in less than four months.