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Valiant News
Valiant's Harbinger To Be A Movie!!!
Brett
Ratner to Direct Harbinger
Source: Valiant Entertainment, LLC March 11, 2008
Paramount Pictures
has acquired the rights to turn the Valiant Comics' series Harbinger into a live-action feature film that will be directed by Brett Ratner.
Ratner, who directed X-Men:
The Last Stand, was looking for an opportunity to start a superhero film franchise from scratch and has been a fan
of the Harbinger comic book since its original release in 1992.
Valiant Comics is being relaunched by Valiant Entertainment,
a privately financed company headed by CEO Jason Kothari and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. Valiant Comics developed
a very large following in the 1990s by launching superhero franchises that had interconnected storylines. At its peak, Valiant
gained a market share identical to DC Comics, owner of Batman and Superman, and was named Publisher of the Year ahead of current
industry leaders Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Valiant Comics was sold to video game company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994
for $65 million and has sold 80 million comic books and 8 million video games.
Kothari's group bought the Valiant
library last year from Acclaim Entertainment and formed Valiant Entertainment. Valiant's plan is to bring the popular
characters to life in film and television. They signed with William Morris Agency to make film and television deals for the
franchises.
"We are delighted to be working with leading partners in Paramount Pictures and director Brett
Ratner on Valiant's first film deal. The future for Valiant's library of superhero franchises in film and other mass
media is very bright," said Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment.
Created by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief
Jim Shooter, the Harbinger comic book series was a hit in the 1990s, selling over five million comic books and was named Comic Book of the
Decade.
Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani said, "Brett Ratner is the ideal choice to bring 'Harbinger'
to life on the big screen, as he is not only one of Hollywood's hottest directors but has been a fan of Valiant Comics
for many years."
Alexandra Milchan will produce with Brett Ratner and Jay Stern. Jason Kothari and Dinesh
Shamdasani will co-produce. The project may be branded under the MTV Films banner.
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| This is from the new Feb. edition of Previews . Click picture to see actual size |
X-O
Manowar Hard Back to be in February's Preveiws and a release date in April 2008
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The Intellectual Property Rights Fight is Over!!!
Valiant Entertainment Inc. Wins!!!
News Release Dec 28th 2007 States:
The trademark intellectual property
fight between Valiant Entertainment and Valiant Intellectual Properties that has continued for two years in the Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board and in Federal Court is now over with Valiant Entertainment owning all Valiant-related trademarks,
including Valiant Intellectual Properties-filed trademark applications.
The conflict began soon after Valiant
Entertainment acquired all rights to the Valiant Comics library of characters from videogame publisher Acclaim Entertainment’s
estate in June 2005. It was discovered that during the sale to Valiant Entertainment a newly formed company called Valiant
Intellectual Properties LLC (VIP) had filed intent-to-use trademark applications for certain Valiant-related trademarks that
were owned but not correctly renewed by Acclaim’s estate. These Valiant-related intent-to-use trademark applications
included Valiant, Harbinger, Eternal Warrior, Rai and the Future Force, Quantum & Woody, Outcast, Dr. Mirage, The Visitor,
Ninjak, Deathmate, Bloodshot, Punx, and Secret Weapons.
Valiant Entertainment filed oppositions to these VIP-filed
trademark applications in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, the process
can take years to reach fruition and prevented the distribution by Diamond Comics Distributors of Valiant Entertainment’s
highly-anticipated Harbinger: The Beginning hardcover collection featuring a new story by Jim Shooter. The hardcover collection
was subsequently distributed by Valiant Entertainment directly to retailers.
During this time, VIP released an
ashcan at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con containing recognizable Valiant trademarks, such as Harbinger and Eternal Warrior,
alongside completely unrecognizable character sketches. Despite trying to circumvent Valiant Entertainment’s copyrights,
VIP’s attempted use of Valiant-related trademarks in an effort to strengthen their applications enabled Valiant Entertainment
to file a lawsuit on August 29 against VIP in the Southern District of New York Federal Court for trademark infringement,
unfair competition, false designation of origin, false description, and false representation. Last month, a settlement agreement
was reached between the parties.
“The lawsuit Valiant Entertainment filed to protects its intellectual property
against VIP LLC has been resolved to Valiant Entertainment’s satisfaction. Valiant Entertainment owns all copyrights
and trademarks to the Valiant and Acclaim characters, including all right, title, interest, and associated goodwill to the
VIP-filed trademark applications,” said Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment.
He added, “I
would like to thank the loyal Valiant fans for their continued support and Blank Rome LLP for their outstanding work.”
Valiant Entertainment’s HARBINGER: THE BEGINNING hardcover collection featuring a new “Origin of Harada”
story by comics’ legend Jim Shooter is being resolicited in the February 2008 issue of Diamond’s Previews.
Valiant Entertainment’s X-O MANOWAR: BIRTH hardcover collection featuring a new “The Rise of Lydia”
story by Valiant co-architect Bob Layton and a new cover by Sean Chen is being solicited in the February 2008 issue of Diamond’s
Previews and will be in stores in April 2008.
About Valiant Entertainment
Valiant Entertainment is
a character-based entertainment company that owns and manages some of the most popular comic characters ever created across
all media, including feature films, television, video games, new media, publishing, and consumer products. Since their creation
in 1990, Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books, 8 million video games, and Valiant became one of the three leading
comic character-based companies globally. In addition, the “Valiant characters are often called the most important characters
created since the Marvel revolution of the 1960s” (Sequart, 2006). VALIANT™ characters include X-O MANOWAR®,
BLOODSHOT®, HARBINGER™, ETERNAL WARRIOR™, DOCTOR MIRAGE™, NINJAK™, SHADOWMAN®, RAI™,
and QUANTUM & WOODY™, among many others. Visit ValiantEntertainment.com for more information
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