News

Deadline Site: Proposed Robotech Film Gets New Writer

The Deadline website reported on Wednesday that the Warner Brothers-based "Hollywood Gang" producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton have hired Michael Gordon (300 screenplay, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra story) to write the script for the proposed live-action Robotech film, and are considering Andy Muschietti (Mama) as director.

The proposed live-action film was first announced in 2007 with actor Toby Maguire involved. In 2008, Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back) was attached to the project as scriptwriter, with Charles Roven (Afro Samurai, The Dark Knight and Akive Goldsman joining as producers. In 2009, British TV writer Tom Rob Smith was slated to write the film's story. In the same year, Roven backed out of the project for undisclosed reasons. In 2013, Warner Bros. was in talks to hire director Nic Mathieu to helm the film.

Robotech was Harmony Gold's edited and rewritten 1985 adaptation of three separate anime science-fiction series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. The producers have yet to announce which, if any, of the three anime that the Warner Brothers project will most follow, or how it will deal with the copyright dispute between Harmony Gold's partner Tatsunoko Production and the creators of Macross (the most popular of the three anime).

The adapatation has inspired several American projects such as the Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles sequel project. ADV Films and A&E Networks Home Entertainment released the 1985 series on DVD in North America. Harmony Gold launched a Kickstarter campaign for Robotech Academy last July, which was eventually cancelled. The goal of the campaign was to seek backers to fund a 24-minute pilot "continue the legacy of the original animated series and bring the Robotech universe to a new generation of anime audiences."

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip

[Via comicbookmovie.com]