Kasdan on Robotech

Last September it was reported that the beloved 80s anime property, and one of my all time favorites, Robotech was coming to the big screen with Tobey Maguire and his production company behind the wheel. Since then there hasn't been too much news on development of the project, that is until now. Over at CHUD they are reporting from a reliable source that rumor has it none other than Lawrence Kasdan is taking on the script duties for the film!

Kasdan of course, is one of the most beloved screenwriters of our time penning classics like The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, and a bunch more. He has a pedigree that could do wonders for getting the ball rolling on the Robotech movie. I certainly hope this rumor proves true, because I am really looking forward to a Robotech film.

So this is great news in my book, I'm looking forward to more development on this one.
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Robotech to the big screen!!!

Hell yeah!!!

I frickin love Robotech! Care of The Hollywood Reporter comes some news that just makes me smile :D Tobey Maguire (yes, that Tobey Maguire) and Warner Bros have picked up the rights to Robotech and plan to bring it live action style to the big screen. While at the moment Maguire's company is producing, he is said to be eying up the lead role of ace pilot Rick Hunter.

After the success of Transformers, and the impending ramp up for the live action Voltron film, this was really the next logical step. Of course nothing will beat my favorite mech movie Robot Jox, but while great that story was still a total Gundam ripoff. Robotech however was a legitimately taken Japanese product (really 3 products), reedited, relooped, with a new easier (yet far less sensible) storyline that made it as American as apple pie and baseball.

If you don't know I suppose I'll just on a really basic level say that the story is about mankind fighting off an invasion by an alien race who we've recently discovered some advanced technology from. It features hot shot space pilots in these transformer like robots (called mechs, or mecha), that kick all sorts of ass and... oh man there's really just a heck of a lot more to it. But I'm not sure how much to get into here. The show was just great fun but maybe I'll wait for an easier description before I go overboard. I will say it was one of the first Mech shows to make it Stateside and was beloved by many a kid of the 80s.

There's not really much other info on the project except that it has indeed been picked up. I really am a very big fan of the property, having watched the entire series twice, and read all the books, as well as a number of the comics. Even just a few months ago I finally picked up the ultimate Protoculture collection of dvds for the entire series. I've been slowly trying to get Erica to get into the show, but its tough when we're talking anime. Anyhow, I am very excited about this film and franchise potential. You can bet I'll be keeping my eye on this one closely.

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