Itochu goes 'Comic'

World Brief

By MARK SCHILLING

Trading house Itochu has acquired a 10% stake in producer Michael Uslan's "Comic Book Movie," as well as Japan merchandising rights to all the company's pics.

Itochu's interest in the deal mostly derives from CBM's plans to make live-action pics based on the work of late manga and anime master Shotaro Ishinomori. Itochu owns a 49% stake in Ishinomori Entertainment, Ishinomori's production company. CBM plans to release the pics beginning as early as 2008 in both the U.S. and Japan.

Titles have not been announced yet, though one possibility is "Cyborg 009," a series about Japan's first superhero (or rather super cyborg) team, which Ishinomori introduced to the world in 1963.