News
Makoto Kobayashi Reveals Space Battleship Yamato Remake
posted on by Egan Loo
Mechanical designer Makoto Kobayashi (Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Giant Robo, Last Exile, Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection) revealed at the closing ceremonies of Anime Expo on Sunday that he is working on a remake of Space Battleship Yamato for release next year.
Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto's Yamato space opera anime franchise began with the first Space Battleship Yamato television series in 1974. The titular spaceship Yamato is built from the remains of the World War II battleship of the same name to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Over the next 35 years, the television anime spawned two television sequels, two video projects, and six films including 2009's Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection. The anime was dubbed and partly rewritten in English as Star Blazers.
A live-action film remake of the original Space Battleship Yamato anime opened in Japan last December. There was an attempt at an American live-action film adaptation by the company BenderSpink (The Ring) in 2006, and Skydance Productions was in talks to acquire the live-action film rights earlier this year.
Update: Shōji Nishizaki, the adopted son of the late Space Battleship Yamato producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, hinted at his late father's service last December that he has begun production on new Yamato works including a television series and another film.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history