Following a string of Hollywood wins, anime is ready to take on the movie biz once again with help from Voltron. A new scoop from The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today several major studios are circling a live-action adaptation of the classic series. Rawson Marshall Thurber is heading up the project in Hollywood, and reports suggest a deal could be made any day now.
According to this new report, the Red Notice filmmaker is shopping the Voltron project to six of seven studios at the moment. Thurber, who is set to co-write and direct the movie, has pitched Voltron to Universal, Amazon, and Warner Bros. to name a few. At this time, Netflix is not in talks to distribute the project despite the service’s relationship with Thurber, but that could change.
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The Hollywood Reporter says the live-action proposal came to Hollywood just two weeks ago. Thurber pitched the story after agreeing to co-write Voltron with Ellen Shanman. Currently, the package names Todd Liberman, David Hoberman, and Bob Koplar as producers. At this stage, no formal deal has been made with any studio, but this report suggests a contract could be agreed upon by the end of the week.
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For those who are not familiar with Voltron, the hit series combines two classic anime series, Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. These series were edited together by World Events stateside and re-dubbed to create Voltron: Defender of the Universe. During its heyday, the animated series was a hit, and Voltron made a massive comeback in 2016 with Netflix’s reboot.
This isn’t the first time Voltron has toyed with a live-action adaptation. Back in the early 2000s, a movie pitch was floated by Mark Gordon and Pharrell Williams that was eventually shelved. Relativity Media also tried pitching an adaptation in the 2010s. And over at DreamWorks, the animation house considered adapting Voltron with an animated feature. None of these projects came to fruition, but now, it seems Voltron‘s third go at Hollywood might do the trick.
What do you make of this new report? Do you think Voltron is ready to make the jump to live-action? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
