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NEWS: ADV Sues Gainax Over Live-Action Evangelion Option


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Fletcher1991



Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 514
Location: Long Island, NY
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:56 pm Reply with quote
So I guess its Section 23 suing really now since ADV tanked, right? Anyways does this mean they were trying to make a legit Evangelion live action movie here in the U.S.? Or was it that they want rights to any live action movie that they make in Japan for Evangelion?
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Otaku_X



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 298
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I'm confused too. ADV isn't even a THING anymore, right?
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trandraskell



Joined: 21 Jul 2007
Posts: 84
Location: Mechanicsburg,PA
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:18 pm Reply with quote
Here the thing they may not be a company anymore but since John and co had made payment and had a legal binding contact with Gainax and they back out then they can still file a suit against them because at the time they gave major money to them which vould have indirectly cause the company to go out of business and this also mean that the Eva project that Funimation has at this time rightful should be ADV's although why did they wait this long to file a suit is beyond me, I would have done this a long time ago and maybe they still be around
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_V_



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 619
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:35 pm Reply with quote
Ack, this sounds like the usual antics that we ran into between New Line and "The Hobbit" movies, always with the studio wanting more money;


from this it seems that:

1 - ADV wanted Gainax to give them "materials" to affirm they were still supportive of live-action Eva (I would theorize maybe, say, interview video clips or something, to show they were on board).

2 - Gainax asked for more money than ADV had already given them, even sending back the original $100,000 check they sent in 2010.

3 - "a major studio" which had actually been interested in taking up the project pulled out because Gainax wouldn't commit those "materials" to show they were on board. I fear this may be "the major studio, singular" that Joseph Chou was referring to when he said a single studio was now interested.

Fundamentally, this seems like Gainax yanking their chain.

I wonder if this has to do with the rumored financial problems I've heard that Gainax got itself into.

Either way, some honestly though Live Action Eva was imminent in 2003 or so when Weta was actively making concept art. After King Kong that got shelved, but I realized when that happened that the project would be sidelined for a long time.

I now see live action Eva as a project on a scale of many years, like people in the 1990's talking about making a live-actin Lord of the Rings.

We can sit around going "haha every year at Anime Expo ADV would say it was slowly moving forward"....but what else were they to say?

We have to shift out of "why isn't this happening in 6 months" mode, and shift into "what can we do to make the way ready for this project, on a scale of 3-5 years best case scenario?"
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:40 pm Reply with quote
People just don't seem to know what to do with money.
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FaytLein



Joined: 21 Jun 2008
Posts: 1260
Location: Williamsburg, VA
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:27 am Reply with quote
Otaku_X wrote:
Yeah, I'm confused too. ADV isn't even a THING anymore, right?


Due to bankruptcy laws in Texas, ADV was able to avoid dying completely by selling off all of its properties and materials to itself, acting as five seperate companies rather than just one. So Sentai Filmworks and Section 23 are just subdivisions of what ADV used to be, so ADV still exists, just not as a single brand anymore.

As for the lawsuit....I think EVA live action was going to be one of those things that probably never got off the ground, despite how much Ledford cheerleaded it. And I have to wonder if Gainax was trying to protect the eternal cash cow of EVA from getting damaged by having a potentially bad live action film made. (I'm not saying the movie would have been bad, just the chance of it being bad could have hurt Asuka and Rei ver. Mariachi band figure sales.)

Even if ADV won this case.....I doubt the amount of money they would have put into all of those projects would have born fruit. I just wonder if something like this creates a weird dual license thing that plagues Macross to this day or not.
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TJ_Kat



Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Posts: 362
Location: Saskatoon, Canada
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:29 am Reply with quote
trandraskell wrote:
...why did they wait this long to file a suit is beyond me, I would have done this a long time ago and maybe they still be around


probably because gainax just sent the check back two weeks ago? up until then i imagine "adv" still thought they were in business together.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15298
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:30 am Reply with quote
It's not the first time Japanese companies screwed American licensors, and it won't be the last. [Just ask any holdovers from CPM.]

_V_: Except New Line/Time Warner never really had the movie rights to The Hobbit movie and was just trying to screw MGM out of its stake in the property. Great hacks is just trying to shake down ADV because people like Panty and Stocking about as much as Ebichu and they're trying to off-set their losses. Rolling Eyes To me, it sounds like a reverse Voltron situation. Where this time, it's the production company getting ripped off by the license-holder, rather than the other way around. As for the prospects of a LA Eva movie, Bayformers is still making money, so it'll happen eventually.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:38 am Reply with quote
FaytLein wrote:
And I have to wonder if Gainax was trying to protect the eternal cash cow of EVA from getting damaged by having a potentially bad live action film made. (I'm not saying the movie would have been bad, just the chance of it being bad could have hurt Asuka and Rei ver. Mariachi band figure sales.)


Considering how Gainax whores Eva to anything and everything, I somehow doubt they care how it'd affect their merchandise image. Laughing

This court issue is probably just ADV/Sentai wanting to continue being the partner for any possible Eva-based live-action movie in the future, while Gainax wanting another partner who they think could better bring the project into fruition. I feel Gainax wants to get this live-action movie made, so they can milk it some more.
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FaytLein



Joined: 21 Jun 2008
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Location: Williamsburg, VA
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:52 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:

Considering how Gainax whores Eva to anything and everything, I somehow doubt they care how it'd affect their merchandise image. Laughing


But if a live action movie tanks, people won't buy the figures. So theoretical Rei Mariachi will sit in the dustbins, unloved. WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE SENORITAS!
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:16 am Reply with quote
I know it's been a long time, but didn't ADV go out of business entirely?

I read what FayLein wrote, but I just thought once a business files chapter seven, that is pretty much the end of them. Then again, if you don't live in Texas, knowing some their independent laws is hit or miss at times.

Well, although it is news to be that ADV is still somehow in business, didn't the rights to Eva expire for ADV and or were sold off when ADV filed for bankruptcy?

Either way, it's hard to tell at this point who will win this lawsuit.
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tangytangerine



Joined: 28 Feb 2010
Posts: 439
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:33 am Reply with quote
If I'm reading that agreement right, ADV/Section 23 technically should be the ones to get these Rebuild of Evangelion movies that Funimation are releasing. But the way Gainax is being sneaky about is that they forced Funimation to do a theatrical run first. Thus they can't technically be called "direct-to-video" movies.

Come to think of it, who exactly owns the U.S. rights to the old TV show?
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EricDent



Joined: 28 May 2008
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Location: Georgetown, TX
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:50 am Reply with quote
I would guess that Sentai/Section 23 owns that still.

Since right before the whole "break up" they re-re-re-released it on DVD (in a special "Holiday" edition), and you can still find it from time to time in retail stores.

Though I seriously doubt that any Evangellion Live Action movie would even get made, since the boat has sailed on the mega-popularity of that show.
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bayoab



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 831
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:57 am Reply with quote
tangytangerine wrote:
If I'm reading that agreement right, ADV/Section 23 technically should be the ones to get these Rebuild of Evangelion movies that Funimation are releasing. But the way Gainax is being sneaky about is that they forced Funimation to do a theatrical run first. Thus they can't technically be called "direct-to-video" movies.

Come to think of it, who exactly owns the U.S. rights to the old TV show?
(IANAL)
They have the right to make new projects (ex: Live Action Eva movie) based on Eva and all future (Gainax based?) Eva content. This may or may not include Rebuild (depends on how Rebuild is set up). This does not give them the rights to the actual content of Rebuild. This wasn't a first option on future projects.


Think along the lines of Harmony Gold and Robotech/Macross and then Macross Frontier came out.
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PBsallad



Joined: 19 Dec 2009
Posts: 338
Location: Phoenix
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:34 am Reply with quote
tangytangerine wrote:
Come to think of it, who exactly owns the U.S. rights to the old TV show?


I think ADV's license to it expired a few years ago. There's still plenty of copies of their releases out there and I think that's why no one has re-licensed it.
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