Due to shipping delays Madman January manga releases from VIZ Media will be late, arriving the first week in February. Generation Ninja February Packed Out displays will not arrive until the end of February. We regret any inconvenience.

Keanu Reeves is taking on another sci-fi mission for 20th Century Fox. The "Day the Earth Stood Still" star is attached to topline a live-action bigscreen adaptation of the Japanese anime TV series "Cowboy Bebop" for the studio.

Reeves will take on the role of Spike Spiegel, an adventurous bounty hunter traveling through space in 2071.

Story follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters traveling on their spaceship, the Bebop. Peter Craig has been tapped to write the screenplay.

Sunrise Inc., which produces the anime series, will be closely involved with the development of the English-language project. Sunrise's Kenji Uchida and Shinichiro Watanabe will serve as associate producers alongside series writer Keiko Nobumoto. Series producer Masahiko Minami will serve as a production consultant.

Erwin Stoff ("The Day the Earth Stood Still") is producing through his 3 Arts banner. Joshua Long will exec produce.

The television series first aired on Tokyo TV and Wowow in 1998. It eventually aired in the U.S. as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.

Keanu Reeves will star in a bigscreen, live-action version of Japanese anime TV series 'Cowboy Bebop' for Fox.

The XIVth Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (FHAANZ) presented a series of awards recognising excellence in film and history publishing and research as part of this year?s conference program in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Research and Writing Awards

The Best Monograph category of the Film and History Association Research and Writing Awards was awarded to Ina Bertrand, a Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and Bill Routt, a film and popular art and culture historian, for their book 'The Picture That Will Live Forever: The Story of the Kelly Gang' (2007).

One of the world's most popular shojo manga series', FRUITS BASKET will soon be available in Australia from Madman as a complete 23-volume collection.

The collection will be a limited release of 500 units, available in stores on January 21, 2009.

The manga box-set will include all 23 volumes of Fruits Basket manga series, along with a host of collectible materials; including character artwork never before published outside of Japan and exclusive sample previews of FRUITS BASKET creator Natsuki Takaya's earlier works, published in English for the first time in the western world.

Dear Fans,

As you may have noticed over the past year, we have been slowly making a transition to the new slim line ?fatpack? packaging that has now become standard for TV shows industry wide.

To avoid confusion over what product has and hasn't changed and what remains in the older collector's box format, we will henceforth change the listing for those collections that are in fatpacks and slimpacks with a (FATPACK) or (SLIMPACK) after the name of the release. The images associated with the product will also reflect this new change.

Of special notice for retailers, this means that some collections will be receiving a new catalogue number and new barcodes. This change will be reflected in an upcoming complete catalogue, so please ensure that your systems are updated to reflect this.

Additionally, as of February, all new series titles which receiving volume-by-volume release will only be receiving Volume 1 and Limited Collector's Box releases and will no longer receive a collector's box when released as a complete set. Instead these products will go straight into a fatpack / slimpack style slim package when collected. This is explained in the flow chart below:

Old style release:
V1 and Collector's Box > Collector's Box Collection > Fatpack / Slimpack

New style release
V1 and Limited Collector's Box > Fatpack / Slimpack

From February 2009, the classification for V1 and Limited Collector's Box products will be printed onto the box to comply with the standards set out by the OFLC. To compensate for this we are also announcing a price drop of $5 SRP on all future V1 & Limited Collector's Box releases to $34.95SRP.

Currently unfinished series' will still receive a Collector's Art Box with their initial release as a complete collection, but in strictly limited quantities before transitioning to a slim-line package. Our traditional bellyband solution will still be implemented for ongoing series' which are yet to finish and will be receiving a future volume with collector's box release such as BLEACH and CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION R2 in order to give collectors a consistent presentation.

We appreciate your continued support and hope that these new space saving standards will continue to represent the high quality product we always strive to release in line with our by fans, for fans' motto.

The Madman Anime Team

Code Geass fans your moment is here! The official Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion website is now live! Featuring character, story and knightmare frame information, as well as wallpaper downloads and from January, you will also be able to watch episodes for FREE via ABC's iVIEW service.

www.codegeass.com.au

Madman Entertainment is pleased to announce after the success of its October Anime Boxset Sale, that 70% of those Anime Collections will now be ranged permanently at lower price points. This is effect now!

This is great news for both retailers and DVD fans looking to jump in to more of their favourite anime series. The new price points are extremely competitive, remaining the same or very close to the awesome sale prices.

Here are a few examples of the hot deals now on offer as standard, so stock up for Christmas and beyond!

For the full list across the whole range of new price points check the 4 page supplement to your February Dealer Guide or contact your Madman Sales Rep on the Hotline +61 (03) 9415 8900.

Now at $99.95

Cowboy Bebop Remix Collection
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex & 2nd Gig Collections
Fullmetal Alchemist Collection Part One and Part Two Collections
Samurai 7 Collection

Now at $79.95

Azumanga Daioh Collection
Chrono Crusade Collection
GTO Collection
Tenjho Tenge Collection

Now at $69.95

Final Fantasy Unlimited Collection
Inuyasha Collections 1-6
Last Exile Collection
Rurouni Kenshin Collection 1-3

Now at $59.95

Saiyuki Collection 1 and 2
She, The Ultimate Weapon Collection
Trigun Collection
Yu Yu Hakusho Collections 1-5

Now at $39.95

Cromartie High School Collection
FLCL Collection
Requium From the Darkness Collection
Ulysses 31 Collection

MELBOURNE, MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2008. Madman Entertainment swept the board at this year?s annual Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA) awards, taking home four highly prestigious awards.

The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday November 14 was the setting for Madman's success, where in a spectacular display of David vs. Goliathesque audacity, Madman beat all of the major studios and distributors to bag the biggest award haul of the night. This was equalled only by Roadshow Home Entertainment, whose crime caper UNDERBELLY was also well awarded. (Rumours of gangland retribution and its impact on the judging panel's decisions are as yet unconfirmed)

Awards are given in three categories - Sales, Marketing and Retail Recognition - and are widely recognised as the benchmark for excellence in the industry.

Madman won in the following categories for titles released from 01 June 07 - 31 June 08:

o Highest selling retail title from an Independent Distributor:TRANSFORMERS GEN 1 COMPLETE COLLECTION

o Best marketing campaign for a theatrical release with a $1 - 5m box office: THIS IS ENGLAND

o Best catalogue marketing campaign: ICONIC AUSTRALIAN FILMS

o Best selling title in the children's animation category: TRANSFORMERS GEN 1 COMPLETE COLLECTION

o Madman was also shortlisted in the best TV marketing campaign category for MIDSOMER MURDERS - 10 MURDEROUSLY GOOD SEASONS

The annual AVSDA awards ceremony is the industry's night of nights with all major studios and major and independent distributors in fulsome attendance; competition for awards is fiercely contested.

Said Paul Wiegard - Madman's Managing Director, "We are absolutely delighted with this result. Winning four AVSDA awards and being shortlisted for an additional award is a huge honour and is a testament to the talent and dedication of the entire Madman team."

Madman and ABC2 are excited to announce that from January 2009 CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION will be airing on Monday Nights at 9:30pm. The series will premiere with a 1 hour double episode extravaganza.

New episodes will air each week. But that's not all. In an Australian anime first, episodes will be made available to view for 14 days after the airing on ABC's iVIEW online streaming service for FREE.

The expect start date will be the week following the conclusion of DEATH NOTE, which is currently airing on ABC2, Mondays at 9:30pm.

Dear Fans and Retailers,

Madman Manga wishes to inform that the Fushigi Yugi manga bundle originally scheduled for October has been canceled. Individual volumes of this series will still be available through your regular retailer outlets.

If you are a retailer who has ordered this product please do not hesitate to contact the sales hotline regarding credits

Madman wishes to apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused.