Anime Leader to Create Home Video Adaptation of Award-Winning Video
Game Franchise "Dragon Age"
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Jun 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- BioWare(TM), an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio and FUNimation
Entertainment, the leading distributor of Japanese animation in North
America, announced today an agreement to create an anime feature film
adapted from BioWare's critically-acclaimed fantasy Action RPG franchise Dragon
Age(TM). Production of the Dragon Age anime movie is slated to
begin in May 2010, with a home video release in 2011. Executive
producing the film are Bioware's Executive Producer Mark Darrah
and Creative Director Mike Laidlaw, as well as FUNimation's Fukunaga and
Director of Original Entertainment Chris Moujaes.
"Anime is a great medium for us to continue the robust Dragon Age
story," said Mark Darrah, Executive Producer for the Dragon Age
franchise. "Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we are delivering
the exceptional quality and entertainment value that our Dragon Age
fans expect."
"We are thrilled to be working with EA and BioWare on the production of
the Dragon Age anime feature," said Gen Fukunaga, President and
CEO of FUNimation. "We are going to be bringing the classic visual and
storytelling techniques found in anime to create a film that will extend
the narrative of the world BioWare has created."
Dragon Age has been selected as the first title in FUNimation's
slate of major anime movies to be developed through FUNimation's
Original Entertainment team since the announcement of the company's
co-production initiative in November 2009.
When originally released in 2009, Dragon Age: Origins won over 30
critics awards and was named "RPG of the Year" by the Academy of Arts
and Interactive Sciences, Game Informer, G4, SpikeTV, and PC
Gamer. Seth Schiesel of The New York Times described the game
as "...perhaps the best electronic game made yet."
For more information on Dragon Age, please visit http://dragonage.bioware.com/.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in
1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless
devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA MobileTM
and POGOTM. In fiscal 2010, EA posted GAAP net revenue of
$3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million units.
EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation(R) Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for Japanese animation in
the United States. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime
series from Japan and for being the market share leader for home video
sales of anime in the United States. The company has a proven formula
for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of
rights for most of its brands including broadcasting,
licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About Navarre Corporation
Navarre(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: NAVR)(News) is a publisher and distributer
of computer software, home entertainment media and related products. The
company produces animé video through its FUNimation Entertainment(R)
subsidiary and publishes computer software in its Encore(R) subsidiary.
Navarre Distribution Services provides complete distribution and
third-party logistics (3PL) services to North American retailers and
their suppliers. Navarre was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Additional information can be found at http://www.navarre.com.
BioWare and Dragon Age are trademarks of EA International (Studio and
Publishing) Ltd. EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and Pogo are trademarks of
Electronic Arts Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts
Cindy Lum, 650-628-3835
Senior Publicist
clum@ea.com
or
Electronic Arts
Andrew Wong, 650-628-2781
Senior PR Manager
anwong@ea.com
or
FUNimation Entertainment
Jackie Smith, 972-355-7300, x4843
Senior PR Manager
Jackie.smith@funimation.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010