Disney+’s
Hawkeye director
Rhys Thomas has been chosen to helm Sony’s live-action adaptation of the iconic 80s anime franchise
Robotech,
Deadline reports. Thomas was the main director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series, which was greeted with both critical appraisal and high viewing numbers.
Consisting of 85 episodes, the original
Robotech anime series is set in a future where humanity is under attack by ferocious alien armies. To fight off the invaders, humans explore the wreckage of a fallen alien starship and develop giant mechas that can help defend the planet. You are not entirely wrong if you are thinking
Pacific Rim, as
Guillermo del Toro’s cinematic universe is inspired by classic Japanese mecha animes, including
Robotech.
While
Robotech was sold in the West as a single series, the show actually mixes three different Japanese animes:
Super Dimension Fortress Macross,
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and
Genesis Climber MOSPEADA. Since neither of the original series achieved the minimum of 65 episodes required by U.S. syndicated television, producer Harmony Gold USA, in association with Tatsunoko Production, decided to grab three shows, re-edit them, and record the dialogue to make a single franchise. The result is one of the most memorable anime series of the 80s, which helped make mecha stories popular in America.
Due to the recut that led to the creation of
Robotech, the live-action film adaptation has a lot of material they could use. The series deal with three subsequent alien invasions, one from each of the original shows that got recut, meaning that the film adaptation could also aim for sequels, should the first one win the audiences. Besides the 85-episode show, the
Robotech franchise also counts three animated movies, dozens of comic books, novels, video games, and even collectible cards.
Thomas is directing the
Robotech movie adaptation from a script by
Marcum & Holloway, with a rewrite by
Brian Gatewood and
Alessandro Tanaka. Before Thomas jumped on the
Robotech train, the film was
set to be helmed by It director Andrés Muschietti.
Wonder Woman co-writer
Jason Fuchs was also initially expected to write the
Robotech script but has apparently left the project together with Muschietti. That’s reasonable, considering how the first talks about the adaptation came out in 2017, with the project remaining silent until now. Of course, everybody has a schedule that cannot wait for years without end, especially Hollywood big-shots, so the departure of the original director and writer is not surprising.
There’s still no release date for the
Robotech film. However, with a new director officially announced, it shouldn’t take long for Sony to unveil more details about the project.
