In an exclusive being reported by THR, Tsuburaya has just tapped Jeff Gomez and his Starlight Runner Entertainment along with LA based The Licensing Group to rebrand and reboot the Ultraman franchise across multiple platforms for markets outside Japan. This is massive news for a number of reasons, but THR has a great exclusive breakdown of what this all means as well.
U.S. transmedia producer Starlight Runner Entertainment has been tapped by Tokyo-based Tsuburaya Productions to build out the Ultraman mythology for the digital age outside of Japan, to include a possible live action streaming TV series. The original live action Ultra Q and Ultramanseries that launched in 1966 featured a high-tech police force and their silver superhero Ultraman battling to save the Earth from invading aliens and giant monsters.
Dozens of sequel TV series, movies, video games and other spinoff content followed, including recent movies like Ultraman X the Movie in 2016, Ultraman Orb the Movie last year and Ultraman Geed the Movie in 2018, the 29th installment of the franchise.
As Tsuburaya looks to restore Ultraman’s profile outside Japan, Starlight Runner will team with The Licensing Group to reboot the superhero property across multiple platforms, with story-driven licensing and merchandising programs for the U.S. and international markets.
The Ultraman licensing program will be supported by new content distributed on cable, streaming and SVOD platforms. “Ultraman is one of my greatest childhood heroes. We’re honored to be embarking on this mission to bring this family of characters back to the world stage,” Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez said in a statement.
So, how exciting is this? Seeing one of the oldest and most beloved Tokusatsu franchises in the world, stepping into the modern day in an entirely new fashion. SHare your thoughts on the subject by visiting our discussion thread on the topic, just click “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post.