JAPANESE ANIMATION series Neon Genesis Evangelion is to receive a Hollywood makeover as an American movie company has bought the rights to produce a live-action feature based on the classic, according to comingsoon.net.
Created by Hideaki Anno, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a multi-million dollar worldwide franchise, reported to be the most influential anime title in the history of the art form.
The project is a collaboration between ADV Films, Gainax and Weta Workshop. ADV is a producer-distributor of Japanese animation in North America. The Japanese anime and game studio Gainax Network Systems was one of the original production studios responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion, while Weta Workshop is the New Zealand-based special effects studio responsible for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
'The three main players represent something of a 'dream team' for a project like this,' John Ledford, head of ADV Films told the Web site.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is the story of a reluctant young hero who must fly an immense robotic weapon into battle against alien invaders.
Including a 26-episode television series and at least two animated motion pictures, the popular Neon Genesis Evangelion has been both an extraordinary critical and commercial success, the Web report said.