It's ON!
A few days ago it was reported all over the place that plans for the live-action Voltron movie had collapsed and died, and instead a new animated series was in the works. Well I just new something smelt fishy and now it seems I was right.
Speaking to MTV, producers Richard Suckle and Ted Koplar of Atlas Entertainment were quick to deny that the Voltron movie is dead and assured fans that the movie is still in development. In fact, the duo claim that they’re very close to hiring a new screenwriter, here is what they had to say:
“We’ve been working over the last several months meeting with various screenwriters, and we’re actually on the cusp of securing an A-level screenwriter who’s going to write the “Voltron” movie. That’s all part of the plan here: reintroducing the brand to the fans who’ve watched over the last 25 years and to a new generation. We are very close to securing a screenwriter who’s going to actually write the feature version — so that’s always been part of the plan.”
They also confirm that once a new screenwriter is onboard, they’ll be scrapping all previous versions of the script – a development that was made clear back in April when it was announced that director Max Makowski (Taboo) was no longer on the project and that screenplays by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) and Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds) had been abandoned in favor of rebooting the film.
With that being the case, the producers addressed which direction this latest incarnation of Voltron will take.
“It’s not like we’re doing anything far different from the source material other than to make it a character-driven film. The effects, the 3-D… The eye candy is the easy part. It’s got to be a movie that has really dynamic, interesting characters and a really strong narrative. You know the eye candy is going to be there, because it’s part of the fabric of the original material. So that character-driven element is really what we’re focusing on, and that’s what the writers that we’ve been talking to have been told about what we want and what we’re looking for.”
They hope to have the film ready for the 2013 summer release, but nothing is certain at this point as the project is not set up at any studio. Still, fans should be pleased to learn that all hope is not lost and that plans are still in place to get Voltron up on the big screen in a live action format.