J.J. Abrams Producing Samurai Jack Movie

samuraijack

According to longtime media executive Fred Seibert, former head of Hanna-Barbera and current head of Frederator films, Genndy Tartakovsky’s popular animated show, Samurai Jack, is headed to the big screen with J.J. Abrams as a co-producer. The film, which is budgeted at $20 million, will combine traditional 2D animation with stereoscopic 3D. It is being produced by Fredarator Films and Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot Productions.

For those that don’t recall the show, Samurai Jack was a four-time Emmy award winning animated series that ran on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, who was also the genius behind Dexter’s Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack revolved around, well…a samurai named Jack. Jack was a noble warrior who is cast into the future by the evil Aku, “the shape-shifting Master of Darkness.” Each episode involved Jack’s attempts to return to the past to defeat Aku once and for all.

If that plot summary sounded lame to you, then I’m afraid we can’t be friends. Just kidding… sort of. Like Batman: The Animated Series before it, I believe Samurai Jack elevated animated action to another level. Spanning dozens of genres, from Spaghetti Western to Kung-Fu to cyberpunk, Samurai Jack was truly more than just a cartoon. Not only was the art superb, but the pacing and the plotting were downright cinematic. Sometimes, there would be whole episodes where Jack spoke fewer than five words and you’d be totally captivated. And, isn’t that the goal of every animator? To tell a story completely visually?

Every time you sat down to watch Samurai Jack, you were treated to a level of sophistication that was truly unexpected, which is why the show still holds such a loyal following. Since I count myself among Jack’s fans, I for one am very excited to see Samurai Jack hit the big screen. The fact that J.J. Abrams is on board (Seibert says Abrams is a “huge Jack fan”) basically cinches it for me, since everything Abrams touches seems to turn to gold. Just for fun, check out the classic title sequence from Samurai Jack below.

What do you think? Would you go to the theater to see Samurai Jack: The Movie?

Source: Frederator Films Blog via FilmJunk

Tags: samurai jack

rastaZen

loved SJ , a great series !!!

its still going to be animated right ?

Aknot

GREAT series. I especially liked the Scotsman ones.

Jack: We are in no condition to fight these odds.
Scottsman: [gruffly] Especially not with a pajama wearin' daisy strapped to me wrist.

Jack: I fear no man.
Scottsman: Oh, that's some tough talk from someone who wears a basket on his head.

Jack always kept his composure and heritage regardless of where or what type of situation he was in. I hope it translate.

Is there an example of "will combine traditional 2D animation with stereoscopic 3D"

T

Sounds Wonderful except for one thing, Mako, the voice of Aku is no longer with us.

INK

At first I was like crap, they're going to ruin another thing that I love. But then I saw it is still going to be animated and I breathed a BIG sigh of relief.

@Aknot (I like the name and 5th element ref as well)

The eps with the Scotsman were definitely in my top 5 fav eps of SJ. Their banter was just priceless. I have them all on DVD and have them streaming to my AppleTV. Nothing like being bored at 11:00 at night and remembering I have me some animated Samurai kick-butt action cartoons to fall back on.

Xigbar

Stereoscopic 3D...?

Deny

Samurai Jack Movie? Tricky tricky. J.J. Abrams is good. But is he that good? Hmmm...

Lencho

Nice. I've been waiting for a film for years. And it's going to be animated. How rare is that these days?

Aknot

hmmmm

Stereoscopy, stereoscopic imaging or 3-D (three-dimensional) imaging is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual information or creating the illusion of depth in an image.

So a 3D cartoon? Or maybe only certain elements (Jack, other characters) will be portrayed like that with an almost persistant unmoving background. Like that Zelda game?

MIke B

THIS WILL BE GREAT!!!!! one of the best shows i remember from cartoon network before they started to suck and show garbage.

eddie

one of my faves. the 3 blind archers was a great ep. so was the first battle when jack almost single handedly destroys an entire robot arm. he had a little help from some genius dog things. and part of the reason the animation was so kick ass was genndy (we're on a first name basis) added the names of the asian animators (the basically slave labor who do the real work) on the credits. something few if any others have done.

Fennaldune

this is the best movie news i have heard in so long!!!!! Genndy promised the fans he would finish Jack's story with a feature film and with a genius like JJ behind it, i have no doubt it will be amazing.
Samurai Jack is arguably the best animated series of our time.

huntthejest

Fantastic news. Been waiting on this for a long while.

Aknot

@Mikeb.... Avatar The Last Airbender? ;)

Syrus817

OMG THIS JUST MADE MY DAY!!!!!! i cant believe this show got cancelled, the best animated show ever imo. Wow im so happy Abrams is doing this too. This should be awesome. Yes i believe this show is WAY better than Avatar: the Last Airbender too.

ralphpofhoboken

Being a fan of the series (watched every episode a few times) I LOVE the idea!! Finally, get to see Jack finish off "AKU". Only one problem - The gentleman names "Mako" who was the voice of "AKU" is no longer with us. I hope they can find a very similar voice. His voice was one of a kind! Hopefully, this will be a great movie! I have been waiting a long time for this.

INK

@Aknot

Avatar is/was a Nicklodeon cartoon.

Travis

YES YES YES!!!!!!

ive been just thinking about this the last few weeks of how amazing Samurai Jack would be on the big screen(live action or animated) i cant wait for this!!!!!!

=D

Manuscript6

Hell yeah i love samurai jack...... I favorite is the one where jack is hunted by 7 deadly robot assasins.... cannot wait for this...

Akshay

About time someones making a movie on jack
now i just hope the same happens 4 Megas Xlr

Ninjatron

The news that Frederator was doing a Samurai Jack movie is actually several years old. JJ's involvment is new and hopefully means the project has a much better chance of seeing the light of day soon.

Samurai Jack is one of the best Cartoons ever made. Even without Mako I would love to see one more adventure.

Sayonara.

Kevin

I can't imagine that the directing of a Samurai Jack movie would end up in the hands of ANYONE but Genndy Tartakovsky. Abrams may be producing it, but if he is at all a fan of the show, he will understand the complete and total NEED to have Genndy on as Director. I am definitely looking forward to it as Saurai Jack has always been one of the most influential animated series in my work, and Genndy one of the most influential directors in animation history. There were some stunning animated works which came out of Russia, and he definitely brings a little of that to whatever he does.

JOE SIMMONS

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SAMARAI JACK ON THE BIG SCREEN. THAT WOULD BE SO-OOO ENTERTAINING!

HOWEVER, IMAGINE, IF YOU WILL, NOT ONLY SEEING IT ON THE BIG SCREEN, BUT ALSO SEEING IT WITHOUT ANIMATION AND WITH LIVE ACTORS!

IT COULD BE PULLED OFF WITH TODAY'S TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN CINEMTOGRAPHY. THE COMBINATION OF A SAMRAI WARRIOR THUST INTO A FUTURISTIC ARENA WOULD BE VERY ENTERTAINING. A FUTURISTIC SCI-FI MOVIE WITH SAMARAI WARRIOR? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

MY SELECTION TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SAMARAI JACK IS [SHIDO NAKAMURA]. HE PLAYED THE ROLE OF THE SAMARAI WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT AGAINST JET LI IN THE FINAL MATCH IN "FEARLESS".

THINK ABOUT IT! : ))

JOE SIMMONS
LAS VEGAS
702-401-5080

Neil

The only thing that worries me is that there was no mention of Genndy Tartakovsky helping with the movie at all, even if just as an advisor or something like that. I really hope that he participates in the movie's creation somehow; I have absolutely nothing against JJ Abrams, but different people normally have different takes on a single subject and thus I worry that some of the elements of what made Jack so good may be missing in htis rention.

Kayla

OMG!!!! FINALLY!!! A SAMURAI JACK MOVIE!!! I fricken love that show its like my favorite show man!!!!!I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT!!!â™¥â™¥â™¥

Chris

To all of you that are worried about Abrams.

1. He is very gifted. No one can deny that. He is like Bruckheimer or Bay, but can actually tell a story also.

2. It says Abrams is Co-producing. Not directing. I seriously doubt Tartakovsky would just hand over his baby like that.

Chris

Also, although Mako has passed away, he was replaced, somewhat successfully, in Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Although, Aku was a distinct voice, so that may pose a problem.

yo-yo88

Imagine if RZA did the music for it!!!

Bob

The only prob;em I see with this is that J.J. is going to try and make it some kind of mysterious story with a surprise twist like with Star Trek. Either that, or it's just going to be a horrendous mess like Cloverfield. Don't get me wrong. I can get behind some of his work, I'm a HUGE LOST fan, and Alias was pretty cool, but I think that people are putting way too much trust into Abrahms. If he really is a big fan, then he'll collaborate with the original writers, and come up with a sensible ending to the entire series.