Cynopsis: Kids!

04/21/08

Good morning. It’s Monday, April 21, 2008, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Tokyopop and Spacedog Entertainment have entered into a multi-project development deal to create original properties for multi-media distribution.  The first manga series produced under the new agreement will be eV.  Created by writer James Farr (Xombie: The Animated Series; My Pet Robot, Shadows of Oz) and Alfa Robbi (Boneka Kematian, Go-Go F5), eV revolves around Evie, a high school girl who gets an nanotech upgrade and becomes Earth’s representative in an alien parliament.  The eV manga series is available in stores beginning this month.

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

News out of the New York Comic-Con is that the third Narnia movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will begin filming this October 2008, per ComingSoon.net.  Filming on the movie has had several different start dates and thus release dates, and is currently scheduled for release May 7, 2010.  No official news from Disney if there will be any further movie adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia books, though the rumors abound. 

MORE KIDS STUFF

Marvel Entertainment and Del Rey Manga have named the creative team for the upcoming Wolverine manga.  Based on the X-Men character, Wolverine, the shonen (boy-targeted manga) series will be written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Wilson Tortosa.  Johnston also penned the Alex Rider graphic novels Stormbreaker and Point Blanc, while Tortosa previously illustrated Tomb Raider and battle of the Planets.  Announced last year the Marvel and Del Rey pact also includes an X-Men shojo (girl-targeted manga) series, which will be authored by the team of Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman.  Both manga series are slated for publishing in spring 2009.  Del Rey Manga is an imprint or Ballantine Books, which in turn is a division of the Random House Publishing Group.

Dutch distributor Telescreen was appointed by Korea’s Cocoban to handle all media rights for the preschool 3D CGI animated series Dibo the Giftdragon in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.  Telescreen, which already represents the rights for Dibo in the Benelux, has completed rights deals in the Benelux with Nickelodeon for TV, and CNR, which picks up the home video rights.  Dibo the Giftdragon is created by Korea’s Ocon Animation Studios Inc.

Miranda Cosgrove, star of Nickelodeon’s iCarly, has signed a deal with Columbia Records.  Under the deal Cosgrove, 14, will record four songs, which will be featured on the album iCarly iPlaylist, which will be available online from June 10, 2008.  The 14-track iCarly iPlaylist album will also feature exclusive tracks recording stars, including Natasha Bedingfield and Avril Lavigne.  Three bonus tracks will be available on Fan Pack and Wal-Mart versions of the album.  The agreement falls under Nickelodeon’s global partnership with Sony Music Label Group.

The Advertising Council has joined with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation (NIHFF) today to launch the Inspiring Invention campaign.  A multimedia public service advertising (PSA) campaign, Inspiring Invention is designed to show kids/tweens 8-11 how using their imagination and curiosity can lead to developing new ideas, which can become or lead to technological advances.  The campaign was created in conjunction with Publicis & Hal Riney, a San Francisco-based ad agency.  The PSAs are appearing TV, radio, outdoor and online, with more information available at www.inventnow.org .

The UK’s CiTV has acquired the animated series Four Eyes (26×30), according to c21 Media.  The series is produced by PorchLight Entertainment (US) and Pictor Media (France).  Additionally, rights deals have been completed with: video and DVD rights to Force Entertainment (Australia and New Zealand); free TV rights to Medcorn (Panama); free and pay-TV rights to E-junior (United Arab Emirates); and TTC (Middle East, except UAE).

In other Tokyopop news, the company has inked several new deals:

• Tokyopop and Blizzard Entertainment, a studio of Vivendi Games, extend their relationship by inking a new three-year publishing deal. According the plan, Tokyopop and Blizzard will release 22 new manga titles based on the worlds of Warcraft and StarCraft.  Set to be published this August 2008 are both the first volume of the new manga series, StarCraft: Frontline, a collection of stories, as well as the debut of the new manga series Warcraft: Legends.  Prior to this Tokyopop and Blizzard released the manga series Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy.
• Tokyopop enters into an exclusive expanded deal with its mobile partner GoComics, that will make a range of new Tokyopop titles available via the mobile internet or in the new GoComics Mobile Manga + Comics application over the coming months.  Additionally, there will be a stand-alone Tokyopop mobile internet platform.

www.gocomics.com/manga/ .

MARKETING/LICENSING

Marvel will get its own theme park.  Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, has signed a deal with Marvel Entertainment for the Marvel Super Heroes theme park to be housed in Dubailand.  The park is slated to open in 2012 and will offer rides and activities all featuring Marvel’s characters.

STONE SOUP

Weekend Box Office Estimates for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13; April 18-20, 2008:
The Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate) PG-13                               Opening Weekend $20.9m
Prom Night (2008) (Sony / Screen Gems) PG-13                      $9.1m-2 wk total $32.6m
Nim’s Island (Fox) PG                                                             $5.7m-3 wk total $32.9m
21 (Sony / Columbia) PG-13                                                    $5.5m-4 wk total $70.0m
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (Fox) G                                   $3.5m-6 wk total $144.4m
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Rocky Mountain Pictures) PG Opening Weekend $3.2m
Leatherheads (Universal) PG-13                                              $3.0m-3 wk total $26.6m
Superhero Movie (MGM (Weinstein)) PG-13                              $1.5m-4 wk total $23.5m
Drillbit Taylor (Paramount) PG-13                                            $900,000-5 wk total $29.8m
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (Lionsgate) PG-13                      $670,000-5 wk total $41.1m
Source: Box Office Mojo

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Ty’s Toy Box, LLC ( www.TysToyBox.com ) and All Aboard Toys, LLC ( www.AllAboardToys.com ) have merged, both will continue to operate their respective websites independently.  Ty Simpson, currently CEO of Ty’s Toy Box, will serve as CEO of a newly formed holding company, which combines the businesses of both entities, while Dave Carlson, currently CEO of All Aboard Toys, will serve as Chairman of the Board.  The merger creates one of the largest indie toy destination for licensed character merchandise available online.  The terms of the deal were not announced.

RATINGS

Live + Same Day Ratings Kids Cable Network Averages (000) for Thursday, April 17, 2008, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON:         K2-11 939; K6-11 419; TWEENS 9-14 322
DISNEY CHANNEL:     K2-11 621; K6-11 396; TWEENS 9-14 319
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11 442; K6-11 272; TWEENS 9-14 216
TOON DISNEY:           K2-11 130; K6-11   63; TWEENS 9-14   32
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Who provided the voice for cartoon character Tennessee Tuxedo? DON ADAMS   Kudos to:  John Carlo-Channel One Network/NY; Nancy Pines-Brand Pharm/NY; Brad Stern-OMSC/Woodbury, NY; Emily Brenner-HarperCollins Children’s Books/NY; Tom Lieberman-Liebermania/Minneapolis; Christine Gaither-The Marketing Store/Lombard, IL; Kathleen Campbell-The Weinstein Co./LA; Jeff Berkwits-Upper Deck Entertainment/Carlsbad, CA; Steven Weisbaum-Saint Johns Health Care/Santa Monica, CA; Kerri Huyck-KIDK/Idaho Falls, ID

Today’s Trivia Question: Which animated Disney film included the songs, Out There, Topsy Turvy and A Guy Like You? ( Click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Gwen
Gwen Billings for Cynopsis: Kids!
04.21.08

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