'ROBOTECH' Live-Action Movie Brought Back From The Dead By Warner Bros.

Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. is resurrecting the live-action Robotech film with 300 screenwriter Michael Gordon set to pen a new script. The project is based on the widely beloved anime series which has been circling Hollywood for ages.

It's possible that the renewed interest could stem from a mix of the success of Pacific Rim, which has since moved to Universal after Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. splitting-up.

Along with the largely positive reaction to Edge of Tomorrow which is also adapted from Japanese sci-fi source material. I'm curious if they'll put the amount of effort into the project as they did with Edge.

Not to mention Fox's amping-up the huge sci-fi genre with James Cameron's Avatar sequels that could feed the demand for more of these types of films to be made.



I've been hearing about a Robotech movie as long as I've been blogging which is almost a decade and this might be more of the same since every couple of years there's a new creative team announced. The team never getting too far and each time would go back into limbo.

Writers Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, A Beautiful Mind) and Lawarence Kasdan (Raiders of The Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back, Force Awakens) trying to develop the film previously without anything to show for it.

I'll be trying my best to keep optimistic about this new development but we've been down this road many times before.

There's a bit of hope on my part to see Warner Bros. possibly turning these anime/manga films into one single cinematic universe which could include Edge, Robotech and even Akira. Of course, certain things would need to be tweaked to allow this to happen but might give the studio a strong reason to keep the Japanese roots to something like Akira instead of Americanizing it and whitewashing it's casting.





SOURCE: DEADLINE

Could PACIFIM RIM And GODZILLA Help Resurrect The Live-Action NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Film?

Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures are single-handily resurrecting the kaiju (giant/robot monster) genre with upcoming films Pacific Rim and the Godzilla reboot. The studio has strong ties with the Japanese market understanding the massive demand for these type of films. They also have tried to adapt films with Appian Way based on iconic anime/manga material with Akira (scrapped due Americanization) and Ninja Scroll. There is plenty of existing material involving kaiju and giant robots that could end up heading to Hollywood in the next couple of years.



One project within this genre that really deserves another shot is Neon Genesis Evangelion. Back in 2003, there was development on a live-action film which saw ADV Films hire Weta Workshop (Avatar, Lord of The Rings, King Kong, Rise/Dawn of The Apes, The Hobbit) to create a slew of concept art. The project was originally announced at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival with ADV looking to provide fifty percent of the estimated $100-120 million budget. Nothing seemed to happen even with hiring John Woo to pitch it to other producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg. The company would eventually fold and the live-action film rights have been in dispute since 2011.

Other giant robot projects such as Robotech (Warner Bros.) and Gaiking (Valhalla Entertainment) have also been put into development in the last couple of months. It seems like it would be a smart move for other studios to get a hold of their own kaiju/giant robot flicks. Sony/Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Dreamworks, Wingnut and Universal should really consider trying to get a hold the film rights to Evangelion.

CASTING SUGGESTIONS

Olivia Thirlby (Dredd, Juno), Dane DeHaan (Lawless, Chronicle, Amazing Spider-Man 2) and Jane Levy (Evil Dead).



WETA WORKSHOP CONCEPT ART

Robotech (2010)

Based on the anime television series which ran in the 80's will be produced by Tobey Maguire With an option for the Spider-man star to be cast as the male lead. The live-action adaptation has been picked up by Warner Brothers. The studio has been buying and optioning many films adapted from anime sources. Along with the fact large robot movies seem to be all the rage these days. The original script written by Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of The Lost Ark) will go through rewrites by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The pair don't exactly evoke enthusiasm with their credits limited to sub-par scripts. Such as Mummy 3, Herbie Fully Loaded and television show Smallville. I think casting and the director hired will have more to do with the success of the project. If those two aspects don't live up to expectations then it would be time to worry.



"Robotech refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha (many of which were capable of transforming into vehicles) to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions. At the time of its broadcast, Harmony Gold also launched Robotech through a popular line of comics to be followed by novels, role-playing games, video games, comic books, toys, and other consumer products."