UTV tie up with Virgin comics to create new Indian superheroes

New Delhi, Aug 10 (UNI) UTV Motion Pictures Plc, through its movie production brand SpotBoy, today announced its tie up with Virgin Comics, an entertainment division of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, to create four original superhero franchises.

As per the tie up between UTV and Virgin Comics, stories revolving around the four new superheroes, rooted in Indian ideology and borne from the minds of country's leading writers and artists, will be leveraged across publishing, film, animation and gaming.

Aimed at India's 550 million youth as well as the growing worldwide fascination with superhero characters, the new partnership intends to create new entertainment characters that are rooted in an Indian ideology and borne from the minds of the country's leading writers and artists.

According to a recent Hollywood study, films based on comic books earn more on average than films based on any other source material, averaging 215 million dollars per film worldwide.

Speaking on the tie up with UTV, Virgin Comics' CEO, Sharad Devarajan said, ''In the same way the West created an age of heroes wearing capes and tights, our goal with UTV Motion Pictures is to redefine the archetype of the superhero and infuse a new sensibility that relates to today's Indian youth. Virgin's studio of leading Indian artists and writers have already created comics that are being published worldwide and turned into films, games and animation.

This new relationship with UTV Motion Pictures is a perfect extension of what we do best and we are thrilled to be working with Ronnie and his team.'' On the tie up, Ronnie Screwvala, Chairman of UTV Motion Pictures Plc said, ''Virgin Comics is an ideal partner as we look to develop new content in the character entertainment space. Their expertise and global resources will allow us to create superheroes that touch the hearts of audiences worldwide.'' According to Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics Chief Creative Officer, ''for too long, western superheroes have dominated the stage, but in India, the original mythic characters were born and we are now ready for a re-launch of larger than life heroes that will reflect the ancestral ethos of the region from which they spawn. We expect this partnership with UTV Motion Pictures to launch a whole new universe of heroes and I couldn't be more excited.'' The new stories, will be co-created and co-owned by Virgin and UTV Motion Pictures and initially be released as graphic novels to be published worldwide by Virgin. The partnership anticipates the first comic books will be released by the end of 2007.

Suresh Seetharaman, President of Virgin Comics and Vikas Bahl Creative and Business Head, Spotboy will be managing the partnership and supervising the creative development.

''At SpotBoy we want to capture the imagination of audiences from all dimensions and mediums. So when we will create stories for all mediums the creative is bound to take a leap,''Vikas said.

''It's time for a new wave of Indian superheroes to fuel the imaginations and foster the inspirations of the next generation of global kids and teens,'' commented Mr. Seetharaman.

Founded in November 2005 by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Enterprises Ltd., alongside author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman, Virgin Comics is a character entertainment company creating original stories and epic myths for worldwide audiences.

Virgin is developing new stories with acclaimed filmmakers, actors and musicians including John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam, Dave Stewart, Ed Burns, Nicolas Cage, Duran Duran, Sachin Tendulkar and others. Feature films based on Virgin Comics' characters are also in the works, including an animated feature 'The Secrets of the Seven Sounds' and theatrical live action feature films, 'The Sadhu' in development with actor Nicolas Cage as well as 'Gamekeeper' in development with Warner Bros.

Virgin Comics has also formed a strategic partnerships with NBC-Universal to create new science fiction properties for graphic novels and television.

Similarly in India, Virgin Comics recently established a partnership with Studio 18 to pioneer the Indian "teen-horror" genre in publishing, television, film and games.

UNI