Battle of the Planets, North America’s 1970s adaptation of the action-packed anime series Gatchaman, is the latest classic show scheduled for an animated makeover. Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Enterprises and Japan’s d-rights are developing the new series, which bears the colorful working title Battle of the Planets: Phoenix Ninjas. The companies previously teamed up for the popular boys’ action toon Beyblade.
Phoenix Ninjas will also target boys 6-11 with re-imagined adventures and a cutting edge new look the bring back the cult-hit characters for a new generation of fans. The original followed a group of five heroes known as the G-Force tasked with defending the galaxy from space-faring villains, including the insidious Zoltar.
Sandy Frank Ent. adapted Tatsunoko Production’s series for North America back in 1978. The property reemerged recently with 2013’s live-action theatrical feature, which had a lukewarm opening in Japan behind Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and U.S. blockbusters like Star Trek Into Darkness.
