SCOOP: Ultraman Tiga Returns in New Ultraman Movie for 2008!

[August]

Sponichi Annex reports:

Pop singer Hiroshi Nagano (35), the star of ULTRAMAN TIGA will be reprising his role as Daigo, the human form of Ultraman Tiga, in a new feature film produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which will be released in Japanese cinemas, next fall. Nagano last appeared as Daigo in the 2000 film, ULTRAMAN TIGA: THE FINAL ODYSSEY. The ULTRAMAN TIGA television series first debuted on TBS in 1996 ( the series was briefly aired in the US as part of Fox's "Fox Box" children's line up in 2000, and is now available on DVD from Funimation).

"It's been eight years since Daigo transformed into Tiga," commented Nagano at a recent press conference announcing the new film, "I hope that I will be still able to transform properly for the audience, since it's been so long." Other Ultramen who have returned in their later days to transform again, include the original Ultraman, Susumu Kurobe (67), who appeared in last year's ULTRAMAN MOEBIUS & THE ULTRA BROTHERS, as a senior to the new Ultraman. In the 41 year history of the Ultra Series, the oldest actor to first take the role was 27 year old Yusuke Kirishima, who starred in ULTRAMAN NEXUS (2004).

The new film, entitled DECISIVE BATTLE! THE 8 SUPER ULTRA BROTHERS (Daikessen! Cho Urutora Hachi Urutora Kyodai), as you can guess by the title, will feature eight different Ultramen, but who exactly, besides Ultraman Tiga, are not being revealed at this time. An original Ultra Series alumni, Ultraman movie producer, Kiyoshi Suzuki enthusiastically stated, "In recent years, we have pretty much ignored the mythology of the Heisei Ultras, while we have been concentrating on returning to the Ultra Brothers of the Showa Era. Now, we will bring them both together for the first time."

(Article posted on October 17, 2007 [Japan Time], translation by August Ragone.)
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August Ragone
Author EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS
Blog THE GOOD, THE BAD AND GODZILLA

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

YES! HELL YES!

My favorite is coming back!

I wonder if this connects things...Like the Showa to the Tiga Time line. I mean, it does say something about the 8 Ultraman Brothers...
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Liam Neeson is Zeus!
Breathe the breath of life.

[Mecha-gino]

[alienhulk2099]

Yahoo! Tiga OWNS on an atomic level, even more than Jack. Yes, quite shocking coming from the local Jack fanatic.
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[G-Matt]

YES! Tiga's coming back! I can't wait to hear more about this movie.
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"Just close your eyes, but keep your mind wide open." - Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb in Bridge to Terabithia)

[August]

Yes, to answer the question as if this film will bring the two continuities together (Heisei and Showa), as stated my producer Kiyoshi Suzuki in the article on Sponichi Annex. This was also confirmed by my source in Tokyo -- I am really going to look forward to this film more than the last. Hopefully, it will be more like FINAL ODYSSEY, and less like ULTRAMAN MOEBIUS & THE ULTRA BROTHERS.

Looking forward to more news on this one!
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August Ragone
Author EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS
Blog THE GOOD, THE BAD AND GODZILLA

[Monster Master]

[gvamp]

Nice I really enjoyed the Tiga series and the Tiga movies.
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[darthzilla99]

I am looking forword to this. Tiga is one of my favorite Heisei Ultras, beaten only by Nexus, Gaia, and Moebius. (This is in shows.) Thanks for the News August. BTW, I have heard that the new company that now owns Tsuburaya wants to do more overseas things with ultraman. I wonder if that means they may try to bring more of the Heisei Ultra shows to US dvd what with the court case with Chyio. (While still trying to get their shows from chyio of course.)

[ZILLA '01]

What's Ultraman Tiga? I've never seen it.
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[darthzilla99]

Here is some info on Ultraman Tiga.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/ultrafaq/Ultraman-FAQ.html

[August]

ULTRAMAN TIGA was the 1996 return of the Ultra Series that started in 1966 with ULTRA Q, and blasted off with the premiere of ULTRAMAN (1966-67). The original ULTRAMAN was distributed around the world and was seen in the US between 1968-1983, when it was taken out of syndication (but is now available on DVD).

Ultraman was created by Eiji Tsuburaya (the sole reason why you are posting on this site), the man who brought Godzilla to life with his imaginative special visual effects, and masterminded all of Toho's fantasy films until his untimely passing in 1970. His visual effects company, Tsuburaya Productions, produced ULTRAMAN, and created a whole new genre, spawning superhero series from a myriad of companies, including Toei's Sentai Series, which is known in the US as the Power Rangers.

After the successful pair of comedy movies featuring ULTRAMAN ZEARTH in 1995 and 1996, Tsuburaya Productions decided the produce a new domestic series (two English-language versions, ULTRAMAN: TOWARS THE FUTURE and ULTRAMAN: THE ULTIMATE HERO were failures), and ULTRAMAN TIGA took off -- relaunching the franchise, and spawning a series of films and television series, which are still going strong today.

Read more details about ULTRAMAN TIGA here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraman_Tiga
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August Ragone
Author EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS
Blog THE GOOD, THE BAD AND GODZILLA

[darthzilla99]

Question: Hey August, I have read on Wikipedia that Ultraman towards the future had alright ratings in the US. Is that true or not? (I am guessing that Wikipedia is wrong here, but I thought I would ask anyway.)

Thanks for the Info as always!!

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

I've always wanted to finish Ultraman Tiga, but have never found the series on DVD. Now, I'm more motivated than ever before! And yes, the movie's a kessen! Awesome!

GONNA TIGA, BABY!