Voltron

[beatboy77]

When I was watching Transformers at the Theater this summer I kept thinking how great would it be for Hollywood to do a live-action movie of Voltron! Well it is on its way from Fox, so another Blu-ray Exclusive. I remember watching Voltron as a young kid and just loving it. I always enjoyed it more then Transformers. If done correctly, this should be a big hit as well.

New Regency is looking to assemble its own giant robot movie.
The 20th Century Fox-based production entity is close to a deal with the Mark Gordon Co. to adapt "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" into a live-action film.

Gordon has been developing the pic, based on the popular 1980s Japanese animated TV series, comicbooks and toy line, with Justin Marks penning the script.

Should the deal close, project would be one of the company's more high-profile efforts since Robert Harper took over as chairman-CEO of Regency Filmed Entertainment earlier this year.

Interest in the property hit a high after "Transformers" turned into a box office juggernaut, raking in nearly $300 million to date.

New Regency, which hasn't had a major hit since "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in 2005, sparked to the idea of a potential franchise.

Company's upcoming pics include "Alvin and the Chipmunks," the Doug Liman-directed "Jumper," the Alexandre Aja-helmed "Mirrors" and the Eddie Murphy starrer "Starship Dave."

Marks' take is described as a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City and Mexico. Five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders.

Gordon will produce with Lawrence Inglee and Jordan Wynn, who are shepherding the project at the Gordon Co., which has Roland Emmerich's "10,000 B.C." bowing next from Warner Bros. Mark Costa and Ford Oelman are exec producers.

"Voltron" pic has been in the works for nearly three years, with Jim Young's Animus Films funding its development.

Marks has become a go-to guy in Hollywood for comicbook, videogame and toy-based adaptations.

He is adapting "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" for Joel Silver at Warner Bros., as well as the Green Arrow pic "Supermax," also at the studio. Marks also has "Street Fighter" in the works at Hyde Park and Fox.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

And for those of you who need to be reminded of Voltron, here is Episode 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FaLY94dYVA

Narrator is Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime).

~Josh

[teacher_man99]

I was a huge fan of Transformers and Voltron as a kid, too. Those two, and Thundercats.

Oh, those were the days...

[aygie]

Originally Posted by teacher_man99

I was a huge fan of Transformers and Voltron as a kid, too. Those two, and Thundercats.

Oh, those were the days...

Thundercats was the s**t! Lion-o and HE-Man the original Arnie and Stallone.

[atdm71]

Yeah, and you just know Thundercats will no doubt make the big screen in the next 5 years. Hero machines are the next superhero trend in Hollywood. How 'bout GO BOTS? Remember those things? - the Transformer predecessors? And of course all the Japanimation stuff like Gundham, Grandizer, Force Five -- there's plenty of great robo-nostalgia right there that'll send us Gen X and Baby Buster males runnin' to the theatres to relive our childhood...

...and of course, every single one of these were frickin' made for high def.

...no if David Hasselhoff would just sober up and find a studio that would gamble on some Knight Rider movies...

[aygie]

Originally Posted by atdm71

Yeah, and you just know Thundercats will no doubt make the big screen in the next 5 years. Hero machines are the next superhero trend in Hollywood. How 'bout GO BOTS? Remember those things? - the Transformer predecessors? And of course all the Japanimation stuff like Gundham, Grandizer, Force Five -- there's plenty of great robo-nostalgia right there that'll send us Gen X and Baby Buster males runnin' to the theatres to relive our childhood...

...and of course, every single one of these were frickin' made for high def.

...no if David Hasselhoff would just sober up and find a studio that would gamble on some Knight Rider movies...

I think there have been talks about Thundercats alreday.

What was that other one called....it had robots who all joined together? Had something about music too. anyone remember?

[halon]

copied from filmschoolrejects.com


In early June of this year, Variety reported that Warner Bros. studios is currently working on a live-action CGI movie based on the popular 80’s cartoon television series Thundercats in conjunction with producer Paula Weinstein (who most recently produced The Astronaut Farmer and Blood Diamond), action animators Dick Robertson and Lew Korman, and writer Paul Sopocy. Thundercats fans know, however, that this is not the first time a major motion picture studio has dangled the promise of a Thundercats movie in front of adoring fans—originally the live-action version of this popular cartoon was set for release in 1998, nearly a decade ago, a date that was repeatedly put off before the project was scrapped altogether.

But in this new age of films born of the cartoons and comic books of old, what would be more perfect than a CGI-rich action film about a group of humanoid cats from the planet Thundera (come on… just picture a bewhiskered Kate Beckinsale in yet another skintight bodysuit and wielding a battlestaff… exactly)? So, here are the top five reasons (there would be ten, but then this article would just be way, way too long) why following-through, finally, with the production and release of a Thundercats movie is a MUST:

1. There is no way, under any circumstances, that the Thundercats movie could possibly be worse than X2 or X-Men: The Last Stand.

It would take a considerable deal of effort to surpass the combination of horrid acting, poor casting, lack of chemistry and deviation from the comic book stories that attempted to masquerade as the final two chapters in the X-Men saga that began with director Bryan Singer’s groundbreaking X-Men (2000)… And with the potential earning power of a Thundercats movie on the line, I just don’t think Warner Bros. has it in them to screw this movie up to that degree (and I know I’m going to get flack for saying this, but at least they didn’t put it in the hands of Michael Bay).

2. We have the CGI technology to pull this off. It’s really as simple as that.

Realistically turning Kate Beckinsale into Cheetarah, or even making Jake Gyllenhaal into the orange and white, emotionally conflicted leader of the Thundercats, Lion-O, is far from difficult. Just look at movies like 300 and Transformers if you want to see what Hollywood’s CGI capabilities look like now, and then tell me that we can’t make a few people look like giant furry, medieval-weapons-weilding cats? While it may very well have been the technology that stalled and ultimately prevented the release of a Thundercats movie back in the late 1990s, that certainly shouldn’t be a problem today.



3. Timing.

With a tentative release date of 2010, Thundercats will ride the coattails of the great comic-book- and 80s-cartoon-inspired movie wave, following in the footsteps of current releases like Transformers, as well as movies like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Sin City 2, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and The Dark Knight, all set for released in 2008, as well as Spider-Man 4, Superman: Man of Steel and He-Man: Masters of the Universe, which are slated for release in 2009.

Appearing in theaters in 2010, the Thundercats movie will be able not only to capitalize on its preexisting adult fan base, the result of the cartoon’s popularity with children of the 1980s, but will be able to do so without coming too close on the heels of other cinematic adaptations of comic books and cartoons while simultaneously benefiting from this preexisting trend.

4. The choice is no longer in Warner Bros.’ hands.

Since I have taken it upon myself to cast all of the important characters, the studio now has no choice but to go ahead and produce the film. As I already mentioned, Kate Beckinsale as Cheetarah and Jake Gyllenhaal as Lion-O, and then Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds, X-Men: The Last Stand) as Panthro, Freddie Rodriguez (Grindhouse) as Tygra, and as for the twins, Wiley-Kit and Wiley-Kat, the boy who plays Leonidas’ son in 300 and another unknown child actor as his female counterpart. As for Mummra, the disturbing but nevertheless necessary villain, Ed Harris would have to step in as both the old, wrinkled and bandaged mummified version and the crazy, bat-like, ultra-jacked version. And now that I’ve cast virtually every important character in the movie, Warner Bros. really has no reason not to finish this movie by the 2010 deadline. Hell, I’ll even give them until 2011, if it helps… and I’m not a patient person.

5. A Thundercats movie would ****ing rock. Period.

This reason is pretty self explanatory, and after everything else I’ve already said it may seem a bit redundant, but honestly I think that it’s virtually impossible to overstress the degree to which this movie just needs to be made. Who wouldn’t love to watch giant humanoid cats running around with medieval weapons (can you say swords, nun chucks, maces… and if that isn’t enough, a sick Land Rover-esque vehicle that can tear through just about anything) and kicking the ass of an ancient crazy mummy bent on their destruction?

What do you think?

[aygie]

Den, i think your a genius. (Or maybe obsessed with *****.....cats)

[teacher_man99]

At first the idea was making me relive the best parts of my childhood...


now I just feel frickin' old.

[WriteSimply]

den didn't write that. He copied it from someone else's posting. Look at the top of his post.

Personally the idea of people controlling a giant robot is ridiculous. And Thundercats should not be made entirely in CG. Real actors help create the belieavability, the remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau notwithstanding.


fuad

[WickyWoo]

Yeah, and you just know Thundercats will no doubt make the big screen in the next 5 years. Hero machines are the next superhero trend in Hollywood. How 'bout GO BOTS? Remember those things? - the Transformer predecessors? And of course all the Japanimation stuff like Gundham, Grandizer, Force Five -- there's plenty of great robo-nostalgia right there that'll send us Gen X and Baby Buster males runnin' to the theatres to relive our childhood...

Go Bots was never even close to Transformers

I'm sure Bandai is panting to get Gundam going, but it doesn't have the nostalgic attraction. Macross on the other hand, as "Robotech" would.

And X2 was bloody fantastic, it was X3 that was weak

[dobyblue]

Very cool - I will definitely be looking forward to this one next year.

[MOONPHASE]

Im kind of disappointed about Fox not going with the DBZ live action movies those would of sold a lot of tickets. I wonder if there will be a Big O live action film. Im so looking forward to the Neon Genesis Evangelion live action films here in America.

[sardaukar1977]

A Voltron movie, huh? That could be pretty cool, assuming the studio doesn't FUBAR it.