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Profit Warning Issued Due to Halt on Appleseed: Genesis

Update: On Saturday, the entertainment company Wedge Holdings announced a profit warning for the fiscal period from October 2007 to September 2008, due to the halt in production in the Appleseed: Genesis television anime series. Wedge's subsidiary, the Radix mobanimation anime studio, is recording an extraordinary loss of 42 million yen (about US$400,000). The announcement confirms that the Appleseed television project has been halted, as indicated earlier by Radix's September 26 civil lawsuit against the production company Micott & Basara.

Wedge also revised its estimates for the current fiscal period. It now expects its net revenues to be 2.19 billion yen (US$21 million) which is 21.8% lower than its previous estimate of 2.8 billion yen (US$29 million). The new estimate is also lower than its 2.593 billion yen (US$24.9 million) in revenues in the previous year. Instead of the previously estimated net profits of 150 million yen (US$1.4 million), Wedge now projects 105 million yen (US$1 million) or 30% less. Wedge made 525 million yen (US$5 million) in net profits in the previous period.

Director Romanov Higa (Urda, TANK S.W.A.T. 01, Catblue: Dynamite), character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross, Gundam 0080, Gunbuster), and voice actress Romi Paku (Fullmetal Alchemist's Ed, NANA anime's Nana Osaki) were planning to adapt Masamune Shirow's Appleseed future paramilitary manga story for the anime project. The project was officially unveiled on March 30 at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008.

Source: animeanime.jp

Image © 2009 Masamune Shirow/Seishinsha Micott & Basara