‘300’ producers might helm Sony's live-action Robotech movie

 

 

Fans who grew up watching the anime series "Robotech" in the 1980's may soon get to see their favorite characters and mechas on the big screen, in an epic story worthy of King Leonidas' battle-hardened legions.

 

Sony Pictures secured rights to the popular series and is planning a live-action movie, Variety.com reported.

 

"‘Robotech’ is unique in that it has always been a marriage of spectacle with human characters that seem drawn from life," it quoted Columbia Pictures Production Chief Michael de Luca as saying.

 

"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,” de Luca added.

'300' producers onboard?

 

Variety said Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton—known for their work at “300” and “The Immortals”— may be producing, while Michael Gordon of “300” and “GI Joe” would write the script.

 

Frank Agrama of Harmony Gold, the original intellectual property rights holder, will executive produce with Michael Gordon and Jehan Agrama.

 

Leonard Rosman and Christy Duran will serve as co-producers.

 

Sony Pictures Entertainment Group President Doug Belgrad, de Luca, and Sony Pictures Vice President of Creative Production Matthew Milam are expected to oversee the project.

 

The "Robotech" franchise spun off books, role-playing games, video games, and toys.

 

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

 

Past prospects

 

Variety said Warner Bros. originally had the rights to the material, and the project had attracted interest from Leonardo DiCaprio and commercial director Nic Mathieu.

 

Nunnari said that when the rights to "Robotech" became available, they jumped at the opportunity.

 

“The characters in ‘Robotech’ wrestle with both the destructive and redemptive powers of technology; nothing is more relevant today than that,” he said.

 

Classic space opera

 

ComingSoon.net noted “Robotech” debuted in the 1980s from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Productions.

 

It was a heavily edited version of three Japanese anime series - “The Super Dimension Fortress Macross,” “Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross” and “Genesis Climber MOSPEADA.”

 

Robotech is set at a time when Earth developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Humans were forced to use the technology against alien invaders. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News