The CGI Gatchaman film is now quite dead. I remembered reading about it ages ago, but Scifi Japan just reported on
the lawsuit over the film option being settled. What big companies like to do is pay as little as possible for animation sometimes so they give it to newcomers to save on cost. That's what Tatsunuko, the owners of Gatchaman did when they hired Hong Kong based Imagi entertainment. Marvel did it a few times before it was bought by Disney. Both the cartoons Wolverine and the X-Men and the poorly designed Spectacular Spider-Man were made by almost unknown animation companies who were probably payed very little in comparison to previous well made versions of the cartoons that appeared on Fox's Saturday Morning Cartoon line-up. Wolverine and the X-men was suppose to have a second season, but it seems Marvel wouldn't shell out the cash for another season.
Imagi still had the rights to the movie version of Gatchaman and Tatsunoko wanted them back for obvious reasons. Imagi did so poorly due to the failure of Astro Boy that it lacks the resources to even make the film. Instead it's making something called Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf for China, sounds great..... Anyway, Tatsunoko is gonna try for a live action film. If they had just payed for a well made movie using any of the animation houses in Japan, maybe they could have saved some time and money.
One of the more odd part of the story is the legal fight took place in LA court when both companies are Asia based. There was a branch of Imagi in LA, but closed in 2010, still you'd think they'd keep the contracts through Asian courts. LA seems to be the capitol of all cinema no matter where it's from.
