Robotech Heading to Big Screen, Starring Toby Maguire

dominique_cimafranca writes "Classic anime cult favorite "Robotech" may be next for the big screen live action treatment, if recent news from SciFi.com's SCI FI Wire is to be believed. Tobey Maguire will produce and may star in the film. The article says 'Warner Brothers Pictures picked up the rights to Robotech, which features giant robots known as mechas. Maguire is producing through his Maguire Entertainment banner and is eyeing the lead role in what the studio plans as an SF franchise a la Paramount's hit Transformers.'" I wonder if they'll go back to the Macross source material when plotting the movie... there's a lot more good substance there then in our version.

I don't think it'll be the original version.

[Spy der Mann]

The version we got in the US is much more "Hollywood-like": It has romance, a love circle, heroes fighting to save the country/planet/whatever, and nearly-stereotypical villains.

As big an RT fan as I am...

[Chas]

Part of me is going:

  OOOH! AHHG! YES!

But another part of me is wondering how well this is going to translate into live action. And whether or not it's going to wind up stepping all over the beloved (though flawed) series that introduced so many people to anime.

Re:As big an RT fan as I am...

[Ms.Otaku]

Just as long as they improve the music, oh please let them improve the music. Even as a kid the english version concert episodes made me want to clap my hands to my ears and roll on the floor in agony.

The Source Material

[TomHandy]

It is very unlikely they'll be going back to the "source material" on this one, as there are still a lot of disputes between Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko and Big West. At the very least, they aren't likely to be able to use things like the original Macross Valkyrie (aka Veritech) designs, and they may not even have the rights to redo the original story.

Of course, with Warner Bros. in the fray now, they might actually work out the IP rights, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Yeah, honestly.

[Valdrax]

Anyone who thinks that a Hollywood, live-action movie remake of an extremely long running cartoon show is somehow going to be more true to the original story than the American cartoon has never, ever, in their entire life watched any American movie based on a cartoon or video game.

Ever.

Posing the question is tantamount to trolling on the front page.

Re:Yeah, honestly.

[garcia]

Anyone who thinks that a Hollywood, live-action movie remake of an extremely long running cartoon show is somehow going to be more true to the original story than the American cartoon has never, ever, in their entire life watched any American movie based on a cartoon or video game.

How is that any different than the vast majority of any Hollywood produced films based upon any previously written storyline? They always change the ending and fuck up a good bit of the story along the way and it's part of why watching a movie based on a novel you have already read generally sucks.

Re:GoBots coming to live action...

[MBraynard]

Considering the source material for Transformers, just how could you have made a live action movie any different when space alien robots decided to transform into truck to fight compat jets?

keep it real

[TRRosen]

Roy better die in the movie. Its such a pivotal point.

Re:I don't think it'll be the original version.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think he understands that Robotech=3 anime's, cause the three were too short for a US tv show.

Re:plural

[RexRhino]

"Mecha" not "mechas". The same way that "deers" or "mooses" are incorrect. One mecha or many mecha, there is no S at the end.

Except that "deers" and "mooses", you know, actually exist.

Bring it on!

[TheLazySci-FiAuthor]

If Transformers showed one thing it's that computer graphics were created to render gigantic robot fights.