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It hasn't been confirmed yet, but appearantly Lawrence Kasdan(Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back) is writing the script for the live-action Robotech movie. Tobey Maguire's company is developing it for Warner Bros.
This pleases me, but seeing as what happened with Speed Racer I'm hesitant aswell. I'm also wondering how the live=action versions of Ghost in the Shell and Akira will fair.
What are your opinions?
I saw this on IO9. I will be…beyond…livid if they screw this up.
I know Shadow Chronicles has seemingly broken the "Sentinels Curse" however I'm still worried that this will be the case with the live action movie.
Like the Transformers movie they have a great deal they can screw-up (nostalgia being a large part of that), but they also have a great many tools and techniques to do it right. ILM did an amazing work with Transformers and I would hope that some of that will make it's way into the Robotech movie.
A good writer is one thing, however having a good (amazing) acting can help push a movie with a sub-par script. Iron Man was almost totally dependent on Robert Downey Jr.'s performance, thank goodness he was totally awesome. It can also destroy a movie, so... will the stars aline and give us Space Opera heaven, or will we be crushed under the massive weight of falling Super Dimensional Fortress?
Oh, and there had better be no opening text explanation. That is guarantied Sci-Fi movie death.
I know Shadow Chronicles has seemingly broken the "Sentinels Curse" however I'm still worried that this will be the case with the live action movie.
Like the Transformers movie they have a great deal they can screw-up (nostalgia being a large part of that), but they also have a great many tools and techniques to do it right. ILM did an amazing work with Transformers and I would hope that some of that will make it's way into the Robotech movie.
A good writer is one thing, however having a good (amazing) acting can help push a movie with a sub-par script. Iron Man was almost totally dependent on Robert Downey Jr.'s performance, thank goodness he was totally awesome. It can also destroy a movie, so... will the stars aline and give us Space Opera heaven, or will we be crushed under the massive weight of falling Super Dimensional Fortress?
Oh, and there had better be no opening text explanation. That is guarantied Sci-Fi movie death.
Oops, misunderstood ya.
Oh, and there had better be no opening text explanation. That is guarantied Sci-Fi movie death.
No, but if they did a voice over like the begining of Serenity, that would work. That whole sequence has to be one of the best catching you up on the story opening I've seen.
The trick to making a good Robotech movie LA is that they have to remember that the big robots are not the main characters. I loved the series as a kid and even now (Bought the full box set) because of the human drama...Though I got to the point that uf U heard Minmei sing that F*&ing song one more time, I'd scream! It's not a good Idea to watch 36 episodes back to back.
A live action Robotech.
The flame wars will get up to napalm-level heat as hardcore old schoolers and dewy-eyed young turks go head to head in what is sure to be the biggest geek fight since 3.5 vs. 4.0.
Sorry to threadjack, but live-action Ghost in the Shell? Can you give me a source for this?
/threadjack
As for Robotech, this is one not to screw up. I'll have to look into this too.
Never mind, found what I was looking for: Spielberg and Dreamworks.
Sorry to threadjack, but live-action Ghost in the Shell? Can you give me a source for this?
/threadjack
As for Robotech, this is one not to screw up. I'll have to look into this too.
Live action Robotech..
How can Star Blazers not be one step behind?
Derek Wildstar Lives!
Be careful what you wish for. A script for Star Blazers is in the works. Well except for the fact that they change all the crew members and ditch all the characters from the show--and that rather than use that silly Japanese name Yamato for their spaceship they're naming it after a U.S. boat lost in the Pacific war.
Yay, Hollywood...
Be careful what you wish for. A script for Star Blazers is in the works. Well except for the fact that they change all the crew members and ditch all the characters from the show--and that rather than use that silly Japanese name Yamato for their spaceship they're naming it after a U.S. boat lost in the Pacific war.
Yay, Hollywood...
Also, Gatchaman is coming out next year. I can't wait!
Sorry, I can't say that I'm thrilled they want to make Robotech live action. Especially since Harmony Gold still holds the Macross license in North America. Their attitude is what prevented ADV from bringing Macross Zero across the pond, and will probably prevent Frontier from ever seeing the light of day in the States.
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First off, I'm really excited that we will see a Robotech live-action film. I agree that there should be no opening text like they had in Star Wars. I like Star Wars and it worked for those films, but if too many people do it it becomes trite and cheesy. However I liked the sort of newsreel effect that they had at the begining of each episode. There are a lot of ways that they can screw up this project, but there is also a lot of ways that it could turn out well.
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Oh man! I can't wait for this now. I loved Robotech as a kid, and even more now that I can really explore the whole space opera idea. I agree that the movie will turn out bad if they focus on the robots too much (unlike Transformers, this IS supposed to be a movie about humans featuring robots), I just hope they put at least one Cyclone in. I always loved the bikes that became battle armor. Any time I'm asked my favorite fictional vehicle, it's always the Cyclone. the larger Veritech is cool too, and I hope they do it right.
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Oh man! I can't wait for this now. I loved Robotech as a kid, and even more now that I can really explore the whole space opera idea. I agree that the movie will turn out bad if they focus on the robots too much (unlike Transformers, this IS supposed to be a movie about humans featuring robots), I just hope they put at least one Cyclone in. I always loved the bikes that became battle armor. Any time I'm asked my favorite fictional vehicle, it's always the Cyclone. the larger Veritech is cool too, and I hope they do it right.
As I understand it, it's only going to deal with the Macross era.
The film's been in development hell for a long time, but recently there has been some forward movement. Most notably, it now has a director, Nic Mathieu. Apprently Mathieu is known for directing commercials with lots of CGI on a tight budget, which will be a handy skill for this film.
Tobey Maguire is still producing, but it is uncler if he will still star. More interestingly, Leonardo DiCaprio has allegedly passed up a role in STAR WARS EPISODE VII in favour of a potential role in the ROBOTECH movie, which would be bemusing if true.
Speculation is that this project may get a major boost if PACIFIC RIM ends up doing really well (and it's starting to head in the direction of 'modest success' before it even opens in most of Asia). However, if RIM does do massively because of how well it does in Japan (in particular), that won't bode well for ROBOTECH which will really not be popular in Japan (I can see boycotts and everything, based on how Harmony Gold has treated MACROSS and blocked its release in the west). Also WB and Harmony Gold may have not taken on board the fact that ROBOTECH is well-known in the USA, somewhat well-known in South America, semi-obscure in the UK and completely unknown in most of the rest of the world, where MACROSS is much more respected.
Also, just to make the movie project sound more pointless, they don't have the rights to use the classic Valkyrie/Veritech designs - or the rest of the mecha or ships - in a live-action film, so they'd have to change everything.
Leo wants to play Lancer.
As long as we get a Battletech movie afterwards...
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Also, just to make the movie project sound more pointless, they don't have the rights to use the classic Valkyrie/Veritech designs - or the rest of the mecha or ships - in a live-action film, so they'd have to change everything.
WTF. Then its not Robotech/ Macross then if they can't use the designs.
Why can't they get the rights? Is it a Harmony Gold thing?
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I can absolutely support Krenski on everything he just said. If you want a more modern and equally as good show as the original Macross, hunt down a fansub of Macross Frontier.
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I can absolutely support Krenski on everything he just said. If you want a more modern and equally as good show as the original Macross, hunt down a fansub of Macross Frontier.
Macross Frontier! Oh, yeah!!
*(^_')=b
Carry on!
--C.
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Yeah, as a Macross and BattleTech fan, I can sing you a long, sad song of HG being bad for mecha fandom.
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I can absolutely support Krenski on everything he just said. If you want a more modern and equally as good show as the original Macross, hunt down a fansub of Macross Frontier.
don't forget macross 7. It's a bit dated but the music is amazing. Fire bomber was the first soundtrack I ever got for an anime.
Why can't they get the rights? Is it a Harmony Gold thing?
Harmony Gold's deal to use the MACROSS mecha designs is fairly labyrinthe. As far as I can tell, they can use anything they like for new animated series, comics, wargames or video games, but they have to get the permission of the makes of MACROSS to use them in a live-action project.
They did the SHADOW CHRONICLES recently, re-using stuff from MOSPEADA (which is from the same company that did MACROSS, so I assume the deal is the same) without a problem, and they've produced (or licensed the rights to) video games, comics and the new tactical wargame using the MACROSS designs, again without a problem. Live-action appears specifically to be the sticking point.
And, as I think about it, Harmony Gold probably doesn't have the rights to the plot or the characters from Macross beyond the original show
I don't think that's accurate. They reused lots of stuff from MOSPEADA in the SHADOW CHRONICLES and there's been recent-ish comic books and things featuring MACROSS-era designs, plus the recent Palladium Kickstarter. Also, though it's a bit further back, they did use the MACROSS cast in the three SENTINELS episodes before the thing was cancelled. I think for animation and licensed stuff they are fine, with live-action being the sticking point.
At this point I think it would make far more sense for WB to make a MACROSS film rather than a ROBOTECH one (they can always brand it ROBOTECH in the USA) and jettison the other bits of the continuity. MOSPEADA is okay but that can be retconned as a stand-alone thing. No-one seems to like the animated SOUTHERN CROSS, so that's no great loss (though it's good in the books).
Of course, Harmony Gold would never let this happen.
Also, just to make the movie project sound more pointless, they don't have the rights to use the classic Valkyrie/Veritech designs - or the rest of the mecha or ships - in a live-action film, so they'd have to change everything.
If this ends up being really true, I certainly hope a Robotech movie is never made.
(And while I know most people advocate for Macross over Robotech, I semi-recently re-watched Robotech and I still really like it. Though the later Macross stuff was even better - that would be Plus, 7, Zero, and Frontier.)
If someone would put some serious money behind the Japanese right holders ( Big West and so on ), so that they could properly lawyer up, I think Harmony Gold would fold and make a deal so that everybody can get money off it.
So far, the reason why they can hold the license hostage, although the individual rights situation is anything but clear, is because the companies on the other site don't have the funding to fight against the horde of lawyers HG can unleash.
Another reason is, of course, that the Japanese animation companies often are not really interested in promoting their stuff on the western market. ^^
Yeah, the music licensing thing alone would be a put-off to any interested parties.
Indeed. Or in Europe, as it pertains to me.
Eh, Frontier and Zero as a package deal might be without the legal entanglements. The movie versions of Frontier probably more so since there's less music and from fewer works. Remember that Frontier has music from SDF, Plus, 7, and Zero. That's a lot of artists.
Especially since Mari Iijima is a reasonably successful singer-songwriter and the actual studio band that performed Fire Bomber's songs still does shows and released some albums recently as Fire Bomber. Add in that May'n and Megumi Nakajima (Sheryl and Ranaka's singing voices) are very bankable pop stars in Japan and, yeah, Frontier would be expensive. Quite likely doable when it was still new and hot though. HG's trolling would have put off interested parties here in the US.
Honestly, if it weren't for HG trademarking s!&# they don't own, I think Nue would have been best off just hiring a good translator and adding English subtitles the Blu-ray releases and letting those of us in NA interested import it.
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Now, if Tobey Macguire and WB want to do this, they'd probably really be better off contacting Studio Nue and Shōji Kawamori directly and making a live action version of the story of Space War I. Granted it would look as different from SDF Macross and Macross: Do You Remember Love does.
"The real Macross is out there, somewhere. If I tell the story in the length of a TV series, it looks one way, and if I tell it as a movie-length story, it's organized another way..." - Shōji Kawamori
Doing it this way they could ignore HG since the primary issue is that no one's ever challenged them on it and WB's legal department could crush HG by accident.
don't care how expensive it would be- it would be more than worth it were the series to come out here.
Yeah, the music licensing thing alone would be a put-off to any interested parties.
pah. Totally worth it.
Hey, I totally agree, but I am not a company trying to make a buck. ^^
As I understand it, it's only going to deal with the Macross era.
Ooh. That's a legal minefield right there.
As an aside - the remastered Macross Plus Blu Ray has both the option for English Subtitles and an English Audio track. I'll admit I fan-gasmed.
Interesting.
Incidentally, is Macek no long being with us likely to free things up a bit? It seems weird that Harmony Gold is continuing to block MACROSS stuff when you consider that the Macross part of ROBOTECH is by far the most popular bit amongst western fans and the Japanese have absolutely tons of new material that HG could profit from (by licensing it for release in the west). If they kept the same story and everything as the Japanese series and just put it under the 'ROBOTECH' banner, it would still do really well. Plus they could then do a deal to use the MACROSS mecha designs in the live action film.
Or is this way too rational a position for Hollywood and their lawyers? :D
Frontier is eminently marketeable, but as Kerensky said, there's a ton of licensing and the fact that HG are ginormous douchebags.