‘Voltron’ Live-Action Movie from Rawson Marshall Thurber Sets off Bidding War

Voltron

According to The Hollywood Reporter, six or seven Hollywood studios have entered a bidding war over a live-action adaptation of the popular anime Voltron.

 

Rawson Marshall Thurber, who directed Netflix’s Red Notice and came up with the story for this adaptation, is attached to co-write and direct the movie. Netflix, however, would not be among said list of studios despite the fact they financed and distributed the director’s last project, plus they are the house of the animated Voltron: Legendary Defender.

 

The studios participating in the bidding would include Amazon Studios, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Ellen Shanman will co-write the script, and Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are producing, along with World Events Productions’ Bob Koplar. The team started to pitch and show a teaser reel for the project two weeks ago. Sources tell THR that a deal could be reached by the end of the week.

 

Whatever the outcome may be, this could be Thurber’s next movie. The director has also signed on to direct two back-to-back sequels to Red Notice as well as the long-gestating adaptation of Ubisoft’s The Division video game (also coming to Netflix). According to the streamer, Red Notice is their most-watched original movie ever, with over 364 million hours viewed during the first month. Those sequels are in active development, but with Voltron and The Division seemingly coming first for Thurber, and given the stars’ busy schedules, it might be several years before they are released.

 

The Voltron property has evolved over the years. It was initially a Japanese anime from the 1980s by World Events Productions, titled Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Its first season was an adaptation of another Japanese sci-fi series, Beast King GoLion, with a second season that adapted Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. It revolved around five pilots whose vehicles could assemble together and form a giant robot named Voltron.

 

The show was an instant success and has created a massive cult following since the 80s. It was rebooted by NickToon in 2011, and then by Netflix in 2016. A Voltron movie has been in development many times before, but this might be the pitch that finally makes it. We will keep you posted.