Hong Kong-based Imagi Entertainment, which produced the recent TMNT movie, has announced that it has signed animation maven Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series) to collaborate on the screenplay for a Gatchaman film.  Imagi's film will be based on the 1970s anime series Scientific Ninja Team Gatchaman from Tatsunoko Productions, which introduced the Super Sentai (superhero team) concept to anime and was released in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets and G-Force.  Imagi's CGI feature film based on the Gatchaman property is due out in 2009.

Dini appears to be happy to be working on the project, praising Imagi's offering.  'As a studio Imagi is constantly breaking the boundaries of animated adventure,' he said.  Not only are their action sequences amazing, but their characters are driven, complex and play for life or death stakes.  It's a great environment for a writer with a rather dark take on animation.'