Red Notice and Skyscraper director Rawson Marshall Thurber is to both write and direct a live-action feature based on Voltron. The famed 1980s animated series and toyline is finally getting the big-screen treatment.
Voltron features a team of five space explorers who pilot a giant super robot that gives the show its name. Produced by Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Animation.
The original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984, to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the Lion Force Voltron was adapted from the series Beast King GoLion.
The second season, featuring the Vehicle Team Voltron, was adapted from the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe was the top-rated syndicated children’s show for two years during its original run, leading to three follow-up series, comic books, and a toyline.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a bidding war has started between Warners, Universal, and Amazon plus others. Strangely Netflix is not in the mix, despite being the home of the Voltron: Legendary Defender animated series reboot. Maybe their data tells them something that the others don’t know? Maybe the show is not as well-loved as its fans would have you believe?
This is not the first attempt to bring this show to the big screen. In July 2005, producer Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) announced plans to create a live-action film adaptation of the Voltron franchise in collaboration with producers Pharrell Williams, Mark Costa, and Frank Oelman. Pharrell Williams was also reported to compose the musical score for the film.
The project was funded by Jim Young’s Animus Films. Interest in the property heightened after the box office success of Transformers, and on August 18, 2008, Relativity Media entered negotiations with New Regency to finance and produce the film. The budget was slashed and the plan was to utilize cost-saving CGI techniques such as those used in 300.
The project eventually came to nothing, until this news today. Thurber created the new film’s story and will co-write the script with Ellen Shanman.
Bob Koplar, Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman will produce.
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