Richard Branson gets animated

Virgin kingpin Richard Branson is taking his outrageously successful entrepreneurship to the film industry, taking aim at the Asian market with a pair of ventures based in Bangalore, India. The first, Virgin Comics, is just what it sounds like: a comic book company, with a "focus on creating original titles and characters that blend Eastern and Western mythologies." Virgin's first efforts, which include a a series created by John Woo, are due out later this year. The second company, called Virgin Animation, will have the task of taking the characters and stories of the Comics group and turning them into animated films.

To say that the team behind the companies is an odd group is an understatement: in addition to Branson, the company's creative director is Gotham Chopra, the son of self-help guru Deepak Chopra (who, based on some reports, is also involved), and filmmaker Shekar Kapur (Bandit Queen, Elizabeth) is responsible for "providing creative content" to the early Comics offerings.

Given Branson's history of jumping into industries at just the right time, this is a promising project. It'll be interesting to watch its progress - and, hopefully to see the results, if they ever make it to the US.