NEW TV AND MOVIE PRODUCTION
Ultraman characters join Sompote Saengduenchai (left), CEO of Tsuburaya Chaiyo Co, and Yang Shui Yuan, managing director of Guanzhou Ruishi Culture Developing, at a press conference held to discuss the production of Ultraman movies in China
Chaiyo Productions, together with its Chinese and Thai partners, are embarking on a 104-million baht (USD$2.6 million) project to produce an Ultraman TV series and movie in a bid to boost the sales of its Ultraman products. At a press conference on 24 May 05, Pheerasit Saengduenchai, Chaiyo’s chief executive officer, announced that Chaiyo Production is collaborating with Ruishi Culture Developing, a Chinese company, and Apex Toys, the Thai toy, to film the Ultraman TV series and movie in China.
Contract Signing
Rui Shi Culture Developing signed a co-production contract with Chiyo Productions Co Ltd to film a 104 million baht (USD$2.6 million) “Ultraman” TV series with 52 episodes. The filming for the tv series will begin in August and to take between eight and 12 months to finish. Eighty per cent of the filming will take place in China. Pheerasit said portions of the TV series would also be shown at a film festival in Italy in October this year as the first step in the programme’s launch onto the European and US markets. The first episode will be screened in Thailand by the end of this year and will be shown in China in July and August next year. Chaiyo’s contribution to the project is 50%, with the series and movie to be marketed in both Thailand and China.
Sompote Saengduenchai and Yang Shui Yuan with Ultraman Elite and the other Ultra brothers
Following the series, Chaiyo will continue to film the Ultraman movie, based on a new script, with four new characters to be introduced. The key selling point of the series and the movie, however, remains their special effects. Pheerasit said the company was planning to spend up to 100 million baht (USD$2.5 million) a year to research and develop new characters for future Ultraman movie scripts.
Chaiyo Ultraman Characters - (from Left to Right) Millenium, Elite and Dark
GROSS PROFITS
Pheerasit added that Tsuburaya Chiyo expected to earn more than 600 million baht (USD$15 million) this year from the Ultraman brand, taking into account licences and TV programmes. He stated that the series and movie would double the company’s revenue in Thailand which was 200 million baht (USD$5 million) last year and had been growing at 20% annually. Encouraged by the new “Ultraman” TV series being made in China, Tsuburaya Chiyo expects the total revenues from the Ultraman business to make a dramatic leap to around 1 billion baht (USD$25 million) next year, 60 per cent of it from the overseas market.
In China, Ultraman sales last year doubled to 100 million baht (USD$2.5 million) . Once the series and the movie are released, Pheerasit said he expected their impact would boost sales in China by between 300% and 400%, with product sales reaching 500 million baht (USD$12.5 million) by the end of next year. Coupled with other revenues, Ultraman revenues in China could reach 800 million baht (USD$20 million) in 2006, he added.
ULTRAMAN MUSEUM
Sompote Saengduenchai, chairman of Tsuburaya Chaiyo, said that 50-metre-high giant models of Ultraman and other alien characters would be created for an Ultraman museum in Ayuthaya.
Ultraman Taro statue
“I will create an Ultraman spectacle in Thailand that will attract children from all over the world,” said Sompote. He added that the giant models would cost 2 million baht each and be on display by next year.
Mother of All Ultras
Sompote said the Ultraman museum would allow children from all over the world to experience M-78, the home of the Ultraman superheroes, as well as giving them a chance to explore the background behind each Ultraman character.
(sources: Bangkok Post, The Nation, Manager Online; Credits: steelultra)
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