After more than two years with no progress, it seems Sony Pictures' long-gestatingRobotechis finally moving forward with a new director. Andy Muschietti (IT) has signed on to directRobotech, with the studio reportedly looking for a new writer to bring aboard the project. The last we heard about thisRobotechmovie was back in June 2015, whenJames Wansupposedly signed on to direct, just one day after he was confirmed to directAquaman, and whileAquamanis currently shooting, there have been not updates onRobotechsince then.
The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news earlier today, also revealing that the director’s sister and longtime creative partner, Barbara Muschietti, will produce alongside Hollywood Gang producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton. The movie is alive-action adaptationof the originalRobotechanimated TV series, which was produced by Harmony Gold USA and Japan’s Tatsunoko Productions. The series was actually a combination of three different anime shows, which were re-edited and given new dialogue, so there were enough episodes to create a syndicated animated series.
Robotechis set in a world where humanity has developed a number of massive robots, from the technology found in a crashed alien ship. These robots are put to use when the aliens come back to Earth, seeking out the “protoculture” in the downed alien craft. The project is based on the 1980s animated TV series of the same name, which followed two young pilots, who are responsible for the fate of the planet. Sony Pictures picked up theRobotech rightsback in 2015 from Warner Bros, with the studio said to be putting the project on the “fast track” at the time, and while James Wann reportedly closed his deal for the project in 2015, he ultimately moved on to focus onAquaman.
Frank and Jehan Agrama, who produced the original series, are also involved in theRobotechadaptation, with Sanford Panitch and Matthew Milam overseeing for Columbia, David Hopwood is overseeing for Canton, while Shannon Gaulding is overseeing for Hollywood Gang. This project has been in the works for almost a decade, with our first report in June 2008 revealing that Lawrence Kasdan (Han Solospin-off,Star Wars: The Force Awakens) had come aboard to write the script.Smallvillecreators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar were brought on in November 2008 to work on the script. The next we heard about the project was in April 2010, whenSyvain Whitewas circling the project. Nic Mathieu (Spectral) came aboard in 2013, with300writer Michael Gordon coming aboard in February 2015, although that was the last we heard of the project.
Andy Muschietti made his breakthrough feature debut in 2013 with the horror-thrillerMama, which was based on his own short film of the same name. He went on to directIT, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the fall season, hitting theaters September 8. The first trailer broke records for the most views in a 24-hour period, with 197 million views over the first 24 hours. Andy Muschietti is also attached to directShadow of the Colossus, although there has been no production schedule given. As for this highly-anticipatedRobotech movie, it’s possible that it could be back on the fast track, now that a director has been found. Hopefully we’ll have more onRobotechsoon.
