'Appleseed' distributor hopes for 'Akira-type numbers'

The Long Beach, Calif., Press Telegram spotlights the locally based Geneon Entertainment (USA), which is distributing the Appleseed anime that opens Friday nationwide:

"Appleseed" cost a mere $10 million to make, a comparative drop in the bucket to the $70 million "Dreamworks" spent to make "Shrek," Pixar's $90 million on "The Incredibles" and the $200 million Warner Bros. invested in "Polar Express."

"For the cost of an average episode of 'The Simpsons," you could make an entire season of an anime show," said Carl Horn, manga editor for Dark Horse Comics, which published a printed version of "Appleseed."