Is there hope for future Ultraman series?
- Thread starter Tokuboy
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Mad Skillz
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Probably not in the near future. The Zero saga thing was supposed to be a trilogy of movies and that seems like it might end with Ultraman Saga, so it's hard to tell what's in the future of the franchise after this.
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Where's August and Jared when you need em...
Tsuburaya have stated multiple times that Mebius was so successsful for them they feel comfortable putting the TV part on hiatus and doing movies only for a few years, much like in the 80s-early 90s...
Tsuburaya have stated multiple times that Mebius was so successsful for them they feel comfortable putting the TV part on hiatus and doing movies only for a few years, much like in the 80s-early 90s...
Mad Skillz
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...when in the world did they ever say that? They actually planned for a new series way back in 2008 or 09, but Tsuburaya being bought out multiple times kind of put that on ice.
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I've heard multiple stories attributed to various people. Either way, it's clear the golden era of Ultraman is over.
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Not... really? Super 8 was their highest-grossing film, like, ever and it only made about 8.3 million - that's not much more than that year's awful Kiva movie, which made about 8 million and it's less than Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, which, at about 10 million, was the lowest-grossing successful entry into the Millennium series of Godzilla films.
Ultra Galaxy Legends grossed only about 6.2 million and assuming it had a higher budget than the previous film (that's what I've generally been led to believe), it's little wonder that TYO dropped Tsuburaya so quickly, even if it did manage to turn a small profit. Compare that with the Rider film it was competing with, Movie War 2010, which took in 16 million.
Then Ultraman Zero the Movie, not to be outdone, only drew 4.3 million at the box office while Rider outstripped it again with 16.5 million. Now, I've been told that toy sales are what really matter to Tsuburaya when it comes to determining the success of a movie or series or not but I dunno... these numbers are kind of sad regardless. Hopefully with the extra marketing, Retsuden, Ultra Zone, AKB48, DAIGO, Takeshi Tsuruno, Dyna, and Cosmos, the film can at least come back to Super 8 levels.
I've never heard that. Actually, though part of this had to do with their respective time slots, Ultraman Max actually had the higher ratings of the two throwback series. The lack of major Ultraman stuff in the 80s and 90s was due to a lack of interest in the franchise anyway so it's not really a flattering comparison - though perhaps not without some truth.
Are you referring to the rumors and rumblings we kept hearing about "a new series in the spring?" or something akin to that?
I wouldn't rule them out for a rebound at some point but they do seem a little down on their luck at the moment.
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The "Golden Era" was over when Eiji Tsuburaya died. The Silver Age was very prosperous throughout the 70s to about 1980 (but slowed down by the Oil Shock/Energy Crisis), and I think we're seeing the end of the Bronze Age (Tiga onward). So I hardly think the Ultra Series is in a "Golden Era."
If the Ultra Series decides to take a rest at this point, I'm all for it.
