Thundercats Movie Coming From Godzilla vs Kong Director

Adam Wingard, whose Godzilla vs. Kong is smashing its way across the streaming landscape, will soon get to tackle another big franchise for Warner Bros. The studio has tapped the filmmaker for ThunderCats, an adaptation of the beloved adventure cartoon, which has had three different adaptations in the years since it was created in 1985. Warner Bros. originally acquired the property in 1989, as the original run was taking off, and has been active in the 2011 and 2020 revivals. In addition to the animated series, the lore of ThunderCats includes comic books, a toy line, video games, and other merch, some of which is popular enough that fans will likely want it incorporated into a big-screen feature film.

Like Transformers, ThunderCats sees a small group of heroes who have come to Earth to seek asylum following the destruction of their world. The series was originally developed by Rankin-Bass.

According to Deadline, who first reported the story, ThunderCats will use the animated series as a "jumping-off point," but will deal with the characters in a way unique to the movie. It's apparently a direction that the filmmaker has had in his head for a while, suggesting that this is less about the studio finding the right man for the job and more about Wingard using his Godzilla vs. Kong energy to get something off the ground that he's passionate about.

"ThunderCats is a dream project for me," WIngard told Deadline. "When I was in high school, I was obsessed with it. You'd think at that point, I was a little too old, that my years of obsession with ThunderCats would be when I was six years old. My real obsession with ThunderCats came in high school, the pinnacle of me deciding I wanted to be a filmmaker, and pushing in that direction…I actually spent most of my 10th grade year, I completely blew it. I didn't pay attention in school, made terrible grades. And the reason? I was writing my ThunderCats screenplay through my entire tenth grade year. And I was hand writing it. The screenplay itself ended up being 272 pages long. I still have it."

ThunderCats, per its description on Google Play, follows the adventures of a group of catlike humanoid aliens from the planet Thundera. When the dying planet meets its end, the group, known as the ThunderCats, is forced to flee its homeland. While leaving in their Thunderfleet, the ThunderCats are attacked by the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who attack most of their starships. The damage means they cannot reach their intended destination, so they end up on Third Earth. The ThunderCats become friendly with the natives of Third Earth, who help the cats when the Mutants find out where they are and attack again.