For decades now, Voltron has reigned supreme as one of the biggest anime series in the world. The old-school story came to life in 1984 courtesy of World Events Production and Toei Animation. An amalgamation of sci-fi anime series, Voltron became a hit overseas and quickly found its way back to Japan. These days, Voltron is living large thanks to its legacy, and now we have learned a bit more about Hollywood’s plans to adapt Voltron for the big screen.
The update comes from Rawson Marshall Thurber, the director and co-writer behind Voltron‘s live-action movie. In a recent video to fans, the exec opened up about his team’s plans for Voltron, and it was there Thurber stressed the crew wants to reimagine the series.
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What Will Voltron Look Like in Live Action?
Filming in Australia, Thurber makes it clear in his video that he is overseas preparing for Voltron, and the timeline for filming is ticking down. The movie is expected to start shooting in six weeks, and Thurber is “incredibly excited” as you may have guessed.
“I’ve loved Voltron since I was a boy, and I’ve wanted to make this movie since I was eight years old,” the writer-director shared. “I want to make sure we stay true to the heart and the spirit of Voltron. In this film, we’re going to be introducing an entirely new generation of pilots. We’ve reimagined Voltron for the live-action world, but we’re going to stay true to the heart and the spirit of Voltron.”
“It’s taken us forty years to get here, but I promise you it will be worth the wait,” Thurber shared. As his video goes on, the director gave fans a peek at one sound stage being used for Voltron. The massive space will be filled shortly when shooting begins, and Thurber has a massive team backing him. So from what we can see, Voltron is rushing forward with help from Amazon MGM.
Voltron’s Live-Action Launch Is Years in the Making
If you are not familiar with the history of Voltron‘s live-action push, it dates back to 2005 if you can believe it. Nearly twenty years ago, Mark Gordon announced their plans to adapt Voltron in live action with help from producers like Pharrell Williams, Mark Costa, and Frank Oelman. The move was announced in the wake of Transformers‘ hit revival under Michael Bay, but those plans fizzled out after a decade of development issues.
Voltron returned with a new live-action pitch in 2022, and this one brought Thurber on board. The movie sparked a bidding war in Hollywood as major studios vied for the rights, but Amazon MGM won the battle. This fall, the movie finally shared some cast updates as Daniel Quinn-Toye was brought in to lead the film. Henry Cavill has also been cast in an undisclosed role, so the team behind Voltron is filling out nicely. Now, Thurber is on set in Australia preparing for production, and filming is expected to begin before the year ends.
While Voltron gears up for its live-action debut, the classic anime and its revivals can be found online. Tubi and Amazon Prime have the original 1984 anime available to stream, and select episodes of Voltron: Defender of The Universe can even be found on YouTube. As for DreamWorks Animation’s revival of Voltron, the animated series is streaming on Netflix but not for much longer. Earlier this year, reports revealed the anime would leave Netflix by the end of 2024, so Voltron fans better check out the series ASAP.
What do you make of Thurber’s update on Voltron? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
