Platinum Studios, Inc. (OTCBB: PDOS), an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 5,600 comic book characters which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media, and Villard Books, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that Villard Books will publish a graphic novel based on Platinum Studios’ “Unique” series.
Platinum Studios is currently partnered with Walt Disney Pictures to develop “Unique” into a full-length feature film, while the graphic novel was recently named a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s 2007 Book of the Year Awards.
Created by Platinum Studios CEO, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, and scripted by Dean Motter (Mister X, Terminal City, Batman: Nine Lives) with illustrations by Dennis Calero (X-Factor), “Unique” centers around the extraordinary life of Jon Geoffries. Convinced all his life that he was schizophrenic because of strange visions of another world, Geoffries learns that he is actually seeing the Earth’s twin, a parallel world in another dimension, and that he is Unique; one of few people with no doppelganger in the other world...and the power to move between them at will.
“In my experience, the Random House Publishing Group is one of the consummate distributors of books worldwide,” said Sean O’Reilly, who oversees publishing and animation at Platinum Studios. “Our partnership further demonstrates our ability to market our titles to a global audience.”
“We’re pleased to be publishing Unique,” said Villard acquiring editor Dallas Middaugh. Motter and Calero have created an exciting piece of work, and we’re thrilled to be able to help get it to a wider audience.”
Unique is the second graphic novel out of the Platinum Studios library set for worldwide distribution. In January 2008, the company announced a worldwide publishing deal for Cowboys & Aliens with HarperCollins. The film version of the sci-fi western graphic novel is currently in development with DreamWorks and Universal Pictures, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci (“Transformers”) as well as Academy Award® winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
About Villard Books and The Random House Publishing Group:
The Random House Publishing Group is a division of Random House, Inc., the U.S. company of Random House, which is the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann, AG, one of the world’s foremost media companies. The Random House Publishing Group is comprised of Ballantine Books, Del Rey, Modern Library, One World, Presidio Press, Random House, and Villard. Villard Books, named after the Stanford White brownstone mansion on Madison Avenue that was the home of Random House for twenty years, was founded in 1983. It publishes a general nonfiction and fiction list that has positioned itself on the leading edge of popular culture. Villard is the home for several highly regarded graphic novels, including American Splendor by Harvey Pekar; Flight, edited by Kazu Kibuishi; Elk's Run by Fialkov and Tuazon; and Postcards, edited by Jason Rodriguez. Among the bestselling authors it has published are Jon Krakauer, Eve Ensler, Governor Jesse Ventura and Peter Greenberg, the "Travel Detective." Visit the Villard website at www.villard.com.
About Platinum Studios, Inc.
Platinum Studios (OTCBB: PDOS) is an entertainment company that controls an international library of comic book characters from all over the world, which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media including print, film, online, mobile / wireless, gaming, and merchandising. Platinum Studios’ library contains more than 5,600 characters spanning a full range of genres and styles, and also includes properties such as www.DrunkDuck.com, the industry’s preeminent webcomics community. Working with leading companies in the entertainment and new media sectors, Platinum believes it is well positioned to emerge as one of the front-runners in the creation of new content across all media platforms. Platinum Studios - Comics Fueling Media EVERYWHERE!
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