108 Media to adapt "Real Size Paleontology Picture Book" into a TV series

108 Media has optioned the Japanese illustrated book "Real Size Paleontology Picture Book" from Ken Tsuchiya to adapt it into a TV Series aimed at young families. The production company has joined 20stm Pictures, a Belgian production company with a CGI studio, to bring these stories to life.

This unique illustrated book asks the question "What if prehistoric existed today?". Audiences will discover the real size of Prehistoric creatures in an easy-to-understand way by blending them into our everyday landscape - from dinosaurs resting in a car park to marine creatures propped up with surfboards, and giant mammals peering in through apartment windows.

The first volume of the series became a hot topic of conversation on social media soon after its release, and Amazon sold out their pre-order allocation. The three editions of the series, "Vol. Paleozoic", "Vol. Mesozoic" and "Vol. Cenozoic" have sold more than 100,000 copies, and translated editions have been released in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Malaysia.

To visualize this fascinating IP, 108 Media is collaborating with 20stm Pictures, and they have already completed an image teaser. As a series, the project is currently in-development and at the financing stage, with the aim of starting production in 2023 and delivery before the end of 2024.

Additionally, for the series adaptation, paleontologist Ken Tsuchiya, author of the original book, and the Gunma Prefectural Museum of Natural History, which supervised, author and supervisor of the original book will collaborate to refine the educational content aspect of the series by incorporating scientific accuracy.

Ryo Ebe, the executive producer of the project and the Japan representative of 108 Media, signed the option agreement with the publisher. He says. “I myself have loved dinosaurs since I was a kid. It is a great challenge to be able to visually realize the fantasy of 'what if they were around today?’. I needed an artist I could trust to take on this great challenge, and I am confident that my encounter with 20stm Pictures will exceed my expectations in terms of quality. Since COVID-19, the need for content that everyone can enjoy in a safe and interesting way has increased due to the increase in family time worldwide. I am confident that this series will be an important part of that."

Justin Ambrosino Executive Producer of 20stm Pictures says. “We were honored when we got the call from 108Media to help bring these fascinating creatures to life. What immediately drew us to the project is the detailed imagery in the book and we want to enhance that with our talented CGI team. To see these creatures moving in everyday settings can give such a surreal, humoristic feeling. As we develop the series, the most exciting thing is to imagine an alternate reality where the dinosaurs were never extinct, and where we, humans, did everything we could to protect and preserve them.”

“In relation, there is also great potential for utilization and development in the XR field. We plan to include not only the series, but also content that can be enjoyed by many people through a variety of approaches." Ryo  adds.