Alright now I know what you’re thinking… what the hell is Bakugan? It’s a fairly new animated series that is a big hit with the kiddies right now, sort of along the lines of Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The full title is Bakugan Battle Brawlers, and the show has a tie-in strategy card game where various creatures battle against each other… I’m sure you get the picture. It originated in Japan where it apparently flopped, and it wasn’t until it started broadcasting in Canada and the U.S. that it became a big hit. And now they’re bringing it to the big screen with the help of Harald Zwart, director of The Pink Panther 2 and The Karate Kid!

Universal Pictures is the studio putting together the movie, with Scott Stuber on board as producer. Stuber is somewhat new to family-oriented films, having produced mainly R-rated movies like Role Models, The Wolfman and Repo Men, among others.

Live action anime adaptations have proven to be a tough sell over the last few years with such movies as Speed Racer, Dragonball Evolution and The Last Airbender having mixed results both critically and commercially. All I know is that after all the whining about M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, I better hear some geeks lose their shit on Harald Zwart for tarnishing the Bakugan franchise as well. Hey, it’s only fair, right?

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