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Warner, Tobey Maguire Acquire Robotech Film Rights
posted on by Egan Loo
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Warner Bros. Pictures and Maguire Entertainment, the production company of actor Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man), have acquired the film production rights for the Robotech military robot franchise from Harmony Gold USA. Maguire is considering playing the lead role for what the newspaper calls a "tentpole" franchise, or a property for which the studio expects will support it financially for much of a particular movie season.
Robotech was an edited and dubbed adaptation of three separate anime television series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Due to a copyright dispute that has Studio Nue and Big West, the creators and sponsor of Macross, facing against Harmony Gold's partner Tatsunoko Production, elements from Macross, the most popular of the three series, have not been used in recent and planned Robotech works onscreen.
Supercool Hollywood BigTime Prods' Drew Crevello and Kickstart Productions' Jason Netter will be producers, and Harmony Gold's Frank Agrama will be an executive producer. Craig Zahler (The Brigands of Rattleborge) has been assigned to write screenplay. Other executives overseeing the projects are Warner's Matthew Reilly and Maguire Entertainment's Daniel Shafer.
Macross has had its own tabled attempt to make an American live-action film in the 1990s, and a new Macross Frontier television series, the latest of several animated spinoffs, in currently in production. An animated Robotech movie sequel, The Shadow Chronicles, came out in 2006 and a second one is planned. Other American giant robot movie efforts have included Altar Productions' Robot Jox (1990), PoleStar Entertainment Group's G-Saviour (2000), DreamWorks SKG's Transformers (2007), and New Regency Pictures' tentatively planned Voltron.
