Samurai Jack is Back
Film Junk is reporting that there may be a little movement on the Samurai Jack feature film, based on the popular animated TV series, that has been in development since 2007. The show’s creator, Genndy Tartakovsky will write and direct the movie that will be a continuation of the TV serties for Frederator Films. Tarakovsky was previously on board for the The Power of the Dark Crystal, but with that project being postponed indefinitely, he could put his concentration back on Jack.
According to a post on the Frederator Films blog, J.J. Abrams was revealed to be a huge fan of Samurai Jack, and is now co-producing the movie through his company, Bad Robot Productions. Having a big “name” like Abrams attached to the movie should give a big boost to finally seeing a Samurai Jack movie. In addition to that, Paramount Pictures will distribute the movie, which gives me hope that it will actually end up in theatres and not simply a direct to DVD release.
Samurai Jack was about a samurai warrior in ancient Japan who embarks on a mission to defeat the evil shape-shifting wizard Aku. Before Jack can complete his task, though, Aku catapultes him thousands of years into the future. Jack finds himself in a world where Aku now enjoys complete power over every living thing. So Jack continues on his quest to defeat Aku, while righting the wrongs that have been done by his enemy along the way, and to find a way back to his own time.
Samurai Jack was an incredible cartoon. It had a unigue and dynamic style that set it apart from everything else. The episodes were fun adventures that combined a bit of fantasy with sci-fi. And I don’t think that the show ever had a proper ending. Its surprising that Tartakovsky hasn’t been involved with many projects over the past several years. Samurai Jack ended its run in 2004, at that time he worked on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars mini episodes that ran on Cartoon Network from 2003-2005, Then he was part of a short lived show called Sunday Pants, and in 2006 he worked on a pilot for a show that never launched Korgoth the Barbarian. Then nothing. I am a big fan of Tartakovsky’s work and would love to see more from him. I don’t car if th movie gets a theatre released, or if it a direct to DVD release, let’s just hope that we finally get a Samurai Jack movie.
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