As Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon moves inexorably towards a domestic U.S. box office of $100 million, specialty retailers have had few opportunities to capitalize on the film in spite of its legendary, mythic qualities, which make it a natural for comic and anime fans. By October that situation will be rectified--Art Asylum will produce four or five action figures based on characters from the film and create a comic adaptation of the story in conjunction with Image, which will publish the graphic novel version of the highest grossing foreign language film in U.S. history (see 'Crouching Tiger Breaks Record'). The art and script for the adaptation will be done by Art Asylum creators (yet to be assigned), and each Art Asylum figure will come with a chapter of the comic adaptation. Image will do the packaging and distribution of the collected book, which will tell the complete story of the movie. The October release date for both the toys and the graphic novel will coincide with the video/DVD release of Crouching Tiger, which is sure to be one of the key DVD releases of 2001.
Image Publisher Jim Valentino's excitement was palpable. 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the kind of spectacle that Americans love,' he said. It fills up the screen, and has that 'Cecil B. DeMille factor.' The spectacle and the two tragic romantic subplots make it appealing to both men and women, and account for the wider audience it reaches. This can be a great opportunity to introduce a new audience to comics.' Although plans are still tentative for the book package, it will probably be in a 6' by 9' format. Valentino wants a photo cover, which would maximize the potential to attract fans of the film that might not normally pick up a graphic novel.
Nominated for an unprecedented ten Academy Awards (by far the largest number of nominations ever received by a foreign language film), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has already established itself as one of the most influential films of the year. Crouching Tiger's director, Ang Lee, is currently working on the film version of Marvel's Incredible Hulk (see 'Crouching Behemoth, Hidden Hero'), which will keep his profile high among pop culture fans.
