First off some news I found very shocking (even if i'm not a fan of Naruto).
Dattebayo to Stop Fansubbing Naruto on January 15
The fan group Dattebayo has announced that it will stop subtitling and distributing the Naruto anime franchise "permanently" on January 15. That date is when the Naruto.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Joost websites will officially begin streaming the latest episodes of the Naruto Shippūden sequel series one week after their Japanese broadcast — for free. A Dattebayo organizer who uses the alias "Interactii" says that an episode of Naruto Shippūden would get 450,000 downloads from Dattebayo in its first week. According to Dattebayo, the group accumulated 976,405 downloads for episode 20 in 489 days.
"Interactii" notes that Viz Media, the North American distributor of the Naruto anime and manga, had never asked Dattebayo to stop subtitling and had never sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group. He continues, "But like any symbiosis, you have to know when its time to move on. That time has come. Viz and Crunchyroll have gotten their acts together and are trying something new, with one of the most popular shows in anime today. I, and the rest of the staff, know that if we continue to subtitle it, they will have to ask us to stop. That's something they probably don't want to have to do, because it will most likely make all of you very mad at them. That's something they really don't deserve."
"Interactii" adds that Dattebayo will continue to subtitle another series.
Source
ANN
Broccoli Books to Update Titles' Status Before Closing
Shizuki Yamashita, the Director of Operations at Broccoli International USA, posted a blog update on the status of Broccoli Books' releases, now that Broccoli has decided to dissolve its American subsidiary. Yamashita reports, "All of the book licenses revert back to the Japanese publishers at the end of this year." However, the staffers are ensuring that other American publishers can rescue the titles by spending the last weeks of the year gathering the existing production materials. Yamashita also notes that talks are underway for a few of the titles, and she hope to have updates to give by December 31, the day that Broccoli International USA will shut down its operations.
The staffers will continue to mail out dust jackets and stickers for their books for people who send in their vouchers by early December. Broccoli International USA also hopes to send its remaining promotional materials to library and school clubs, and invite librarians or club officers to email "pr(at)bro-usa.com with the subject line 'Broccoli Books Promo Goods.'"
Source
ANN
Spielberg, Smith Reportedly Adapting Old Boy Manga Itself
The Film School Rejects website reports that actor Will Smith confirmed his involvement in Steven Spielberg's proposed Old Boy film at the premiere of his Seven Pounds film. However, Smith emphasized that the team is adapting Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi's original Old Boy manga, and not remaking Chan-wook Park's 2003 film version. According to the website, Smith said, "We're looking at that right now. Not the film though, it's the original source material. There's the original comics of Old Boy that they made the first film from. And that's what we're working from, not an adaptation of the film…." The Hollywood Reporter newspaper revealed on Wednesday that screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Poseidon, The Cell) is in early talks to script the project.
Source
ANN
