Sony Developing Robotech Live-Action Movie

Variety is reporting that Sony Pictures Entertainment has secured the rights to make a live-action Robotech film and views it as a potential franchise.

Screenwriter Michael Gordon, who wrote 300 and G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, is writing the script. Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton ("300") are producing.

Columbia Pictures Production Chief Michael De Luca said, "With a history that offers an epic love triangle, a renegade hero, and a world on the brink of extinction, 'Robotech' offers a wide scope and a rich and impressive universe where the story possibilities are endless."

"The characters in 'Robotech' wrestle with both the destructive and redemptive powers of technology; nothing is more relevant today than that," said Gianni Nunnari.

Robotech was a fairly-popular anime series back in the '80s. It was produced by Harmony Gold. What made it unique was that it was created by editing together separate anime series from Tatsunoko Studios: Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross. The 1985 show was set in 1999 and began with a large alien spacecraft crash landing on the Earth. Humans analyze the wreckage and use the technology to create "Robotechnology." This helps them against future alien invaders. It spawned toys, video games, an animated film and even comic books.