Nintendo announced this week that it intends to fully acquire Dynamo Pictures, a CG animation company that has worked on all sorts of different productions and properties in the past. After acquiring 100% of the company, Nintendo plans to convert Dynamo Pictures to “Nintendo Pictures” so that it can then focus on creating content derived from Nintendo’s various IPs. However, no specific plans or ownership regarding anime adaptations were teased or announced at the time Nintendo confirmed its acquisition plans.
This acquisition should materialize on October 3 barring setbacks, Nintendo announced in its documents relating to the acquisition of Dynamo Pictures. After the deal was completed, Nintendo confirmed that “the company name Dynamo Pictures should be changed to ‘Nintendo Pictures Co., Ltd.’ To focus on visual content development using Nintendo IP.”
Looking at the Dynamo Pictures site, you’ll see all kinds of properties the company has worked on in CG animation and motion capture work. ghost in the shellPlayStation, the Studio Ghibli movie Earwig and the Witch, Replicant NieRmega man, Death Strandingand the Resident Evil franchise are just a few properties and companies the studio has worked with over the years.
Nintendo itself seems to have growing ambitions for anime and other adaptations, so it makes sense that the company is looking to acquire another that specializes in that sort of thing. Detective Pikachu, for example, was widely considered a successful mix of live-action and animation, with many hoping for a sequel to follow. There’s also the new Mario movie starring Chris Pratt that’s in the works.
Of course, Nintendo isn’t the only game company looking to adapt its IPs to whatever may come out of this new Dynamo Pictures deal. PlayStation is also pursuing such adaptations, thanks to the creation of things like Sony’s PlayStation Productions arm which has already led to several announced or ongoing projects.
Nintendo’s acquisition of the company is expected to close later this year, so expect to see more adaptation announcements related to that split after that.
