Deadline is reporting that James Wan is in talks with Sony to take the Robotech anime and transform it into a gigantic live-action movie with fighting robots, jets, and love.
Having just come off the massive worldwide success of Furious 7, director James Wan could have almost any project he wanted as his next gig. He was recently rumored for Aquaman at Warner Brothers, but it looks like he’s now in talks to take the helm of Sony’s adaptation of classic 1980’s anime series Robotech.
Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton are producing a script from writer Michael Gordon, which is a reunion for the three who worked on 300 for Warner Bros. back in 2007. The original U.S. Robotech series was actually based on three different series acquired from Japanese studio Tatsunoko: Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada. All three shows were then combined into one narrative from American producers Harmony Gold, about several generations of humans who use the robotic technology found on a crashed alien starship, dubbed the SDF-1. Earth then used the technology to fight off various alien invasions from various alien races, all seeking the hidden power source that was placed on board the ship that their species needed to survive. The Harmony Gold-produced series has a place in the fanboy Hall of Fame for introducing a generation of American kids to the visual style and open-ended storytelling of anime. Robotech introduced a generation of kids to much more sophisticated anime storytelling than they were used to from the likes of Transformers and He-Man.
James Wan still has an overall producing deal at New Line, where he’ll be directing his next movie, a sequel to his hit film The Conjuring, but it’s looking likely this will be his project after that’s completed. Robotech was set up at Warner Bros. for a long time, where it stalled for years under different producers, but based on all the recent movement this has had, it seems Sony is far more serious about this project than they ever were.
Wan has certainly earned his action stripes driving a Lykan Hypersport across three consecutive skyscrapers, in the air. So clearly he can do the action, but can he find the heart?