‘Robotech’ Live-Action Films Finally Set to Take Off

The Eighties revival continues with the news that Sony Pictures has landed the much wrestled-over rights to the anime space opera Robotech, with plans to launch a live-action film franchise.

Variety reports this week that Michael Gordon (300, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra) is attached to write the screenplay, with producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton (300, The Immortals) anticipating a blockbuster hit.

“Robotech is a very significant and legendary part of the growth of anime into the force that it is today,” said Canton, “and we’re excited to be adapting it for modern audiences.”

The 1985 Robotech animated series, compiled and adapted from three unrelated Japanese anime series, is often credited with generating an interest in anime in the U.S. and an enduring fascination with mecha anime in particular. Over 85 episodes, it followed the human race’s use of “Robotechnology” to defend the Earth from alien invasion.

“[Robotech has] what big movies in today’s world must have if they want to grab everyone: insane visuals and powerful themes,” said Nunnari. “The characters in Robotech wrestle with both the destructive and redemptive powers of technology; nothing is more relevant today than that.”

Nunnari says he and Canton pounced on the Robotech rights when they became available. Warner Bros. originally acquired the rights to the franchise in 2007, with Tobey Maguire attached to produce. At various times since Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens), Akiva Goldsman (Fringe), Miles Millar and Alfred Gough (Smallville) have all been attached to unrealized Robotech projects.

No director for the new film has been announced, but earlier in the year the Hollywood Reporter suggested that Nunnari and Canton were eyeing Andrés Muschietti (Mama).