Live-action Robotech movie in the works

Not sure if he'd be playing Rick Hunter, Roy Fokker, or even (gasp!) Breetai, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, Tobey Maguire is going to produce, and possibly star in, a live-action movie based on the Robotech TV series which pretty became the entire focus of my life when I was in 5th grade. (You seriously don't want to know how much of my spare time I devoted to tracking down even the most mundane details about the SDF-1, Veritech fighters, the Invid, and protoculture -- or to futilely trying to find a long-rumored VBF-1A Beta fighter to go with the die-cast plastic VAF-6 Alpha fighter I'd bought). Anyone who got into the show in the mid-Eighties will tell you that Robotech had a level of depth and realism well beyond that of any other animated series on US television at the time, which isn't at all surprising considering its Japanese origins (Robotech is credited with helping introduce anime to American audiences). Anyway, hopefully Tobey won't dumb things down like Michael Bay did with the Transformers movie. It was tough enough discovering a few years later that the entire show was actually three entirely different Japanese anime series awkwardly grafted together so that they'd have enough episodes for syndication in the US market -- turning Robotech into yet another mindless action fest might just be too much to take.

[Gary Norman @ Sep 9th 2007 6:29PM]

Your comment system has become more friendly. Thanks

[Kamujin @ Sep 9th 2007 10:34PM]

You think your a Robotech nut?

We're so crazy we're still trying to build a game based on it.

http://www.robotechmmo.com

[PhotoJoe @ Sep 17th 2007 2:39AM]

Dear God! Another Robot Jox is on the way!

[T @ Nov 19th 2007 3:55PM]

Tobey Maguire...we're all hardcore Robotech fans...I to grew up with this cartoon, if you mess this up, i swear i'll start a petition to make sure u never do another movie again...This movie is a serious thing, & after that last spider-whatever you call it; you kinda losts alot of points. We want the experience to be more genuwine because this is apart of a generation where the ideas were great. I mean, the story line is the best & please try not to change much about the movie. Honestly you'll get more praise if you stick to the orginal storyline than changing everything for hollywood. But please whatever you do, "DO NOT MAKE THIS A PG-13 TYPE OF MOVIE." Robotech is "R" movie, this is the 1st cartoon I saw someone get killed in, it doesnt have to be so graffic, but it does deserve to have as much realism as possible. Goodluck...Alot is ridding on this project.

[jilie @ Sep 9th 2007 6:31PM]

i was waiting someone to make it! finally! :D i hope will be good

[TonyFereno @ Sep 9th 2007 6:32PM]

I have no idea what the Robotek is but it sounds like a right load of bum crust. Nearly as bad as Peter (Lord of the Rings) Jakson making Halo the film, sadley this is actually true. God the robot in that picture looks like a right knob jokey, nice shoes.

[a ham sandwich @ Sep 9th 2007 7:01PM]

um, wow.

[John @ Sep 9th 2007 7:12PM]

If you can't appreciate good ole' hand-drawn animation, then GTFO.

As exciting as a live-action movie would be, it is also frightening...please don't screw this up, Tobey...

[Rai @ Sep 9th 2007 8:28PM]

I absolutely can't believe how someone can find engadget yet fail to dig up information about macross ...

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Sep 9th 2007 10:58PM]

Alright.. who let the troll out from under the bridge? Really now, we have to be more responsible about not letting them get on here in the first place. Then, once they're here all they want is to be fed...

[Maff @ Sep 9th 2007 6:32PM]

macross plus and macross zero were sweet!

[ekwmin @ Sep 10th 2007 11:25AM]

I agree, Those two were awesome. I doubt it'd be based on Macross Zero because The whole reference to the Zero fighters would not go too well with the general audience. And I doubt Harmony Gold has the rights for Macross Plus. Most likely it'll be a new story to the original series. Although, I think the "Next Generation" would have been awesome.

[Cash @ Sep 9th 2007 6:37PM]

Pete you know that Toynami is set to release the Beta fighter sometime in '08 right? It even docks with the Alpha fighters they sold this year. They had a prototype on display at comic-con and it looked pretty sweet.

I like Toby and all, but Rick is supposedly a fresh-faced 17 year old at the beginning of the series. babyface or no, he's getting a little long in the tooth to be filling that flight suit at this point. No way he could play Folker either... that sort of character requires someone more like Val Kilmer in Tombstone: playful gambling alcoholic ladies man on the ground, cold blooded fearless ace fighter jock in the cockpit. Edward James Almos would make a badass Admiral Gloval though.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Sep 9th 2007 11:04PM]

Tobey could play Max. In fact, he would make a good Max when you think of the fight scene between Max and Miriya when she first gets on the SDF-1.

[Asher69 @ Sep 10th 2007 2:14PM]

That's exactly what I thought when I saw him on Battlestar! "That's Admiral Gloval, that is!"

As much as I would love to see how they would do Alphas and Cyclones, I think the story for the original Do You Remember Love would make a better live action movie. The Geek Starts Now!

[Rocko @ Sep 9th 2007 6:37PM]

yeah, I hope it isn't as dumbed down as Transformers either. Seriously, why couldn't Michael Bay make a serious movie about the war between good and bad vehicles that transform into 20-foot tall robots?

[McKay @ Sep 9th 2007 8:04PM]

I know! The whole time I watched Transformers I was thinking, "Where is the Shakespearean-level of depth of the original Transformers?"

[Skull Leader @ Sep 10th 2007 12:29AM]

*cough* 37

[zed @ Sep 9th 2007 6:40PM]

This is where it all began for many tech-freaks,that are now between 25-30.Gentlemen we are OLD...

[Shmoogie @ Sep 9th 2007 6:48PM]

*cough* 34

[Reginald @ Sep 9th 2007 7:12PM]

*cough* *cough* 33

[Fafnir_Lux @ Sep 9th 2007 7:49PM]

23!

[JayT @ Sep 9th 2007 8:07PM]

31
i wonder if our granchildren are going to complain about us being too geeky as our parents did...

anyway, i kinda understand that transformers was "dumbed down", since it was never anything but an animated toy commercial, but robotech is something quite different, even the stitched version, so maguire better dont dissapoint us, or our revenge will be swift and geek
:P

[Dan @ Sep 9th 2007 10:34PM]

18!

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Sep 9th 2007 11:05PM]

34 here, too.

[Sam @ Sep 10th 2007 12:11AM]

31 (as of yesterday)

[hnkelley @ Sep 10th 2007 12:59AM]

38!

[Quasi_Mojo @ Sep 15th 2007 3:10PM]

42

I would prefer to see a movie based on Battletech or MechWarrior. I always thought those transforming airplane-type Mechs were pretty lame. I preverred the chicken walkers, myself.

Madcats, Mauraders and Shadowcats, Oh My!

[Chris @ Sep 10th 2007 12:50PM]

29! as if Saturday

[DorianGray @ Sep 10th 2007 2:36PM]

*ahem* 33.

My younger brother had an Alpha and a Beta (we lived in Germany as kids, I think he got the Beta in Italy). Anyway, my mom made him sell them at a yardsale when we moved. He cried.

Now I cry....

[David Royal @ Sep 9th 2007 6:40PM]

Cash is so right about the Beta. Here's a link to see Toynami's Beta fighter:

http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=22436&hl=beta

Pretty sweet.

[EdZ @ Sep 9th 2007 6:41PM]

As long as the Itano Circus is pleantiful, then I couldn't give a toss about the plot. Hollywood will inevitably butcher it anyway, so I don't see much point in getting my hopes up.

[newgalactic @ Sep 9th 2007 6:45PM]

Now that Transformers has been proved to be successful, expect to see this and other movies catering to the 20's to 30's crowd's desire for youthful escapism. Expect a Voltron, Thunder Cats, GI Joe, ...My Little Pony (only half joking) movie in the near future. Also, how was Transformers "dumbed down"? I don't remember any higher meaning to any of the cartoons of my youth. If anything, the movie was smartened up (a tiny, tiny amount). I point to the Dinobots as proof.

[SINless @ Sep 10th 2007 8:37PM]

Transformers was a good action movie mixed with a bad "American Pie" movie. That's how it was dumbed down. Case in point; the scene with the robots trying to hide in the garden.
It is hard to imagine them being able to do something similar with Robotech. I personally hope we'll get something along the lines of Stargate and Farscape, or at least something a little better than Starship Troopers though perhaps with a similar feel.

[Bobo @ Sep 9th 2007 6:54PM]

I used to run home from school to catch Robotech... and when Roy (spoiler alert) bit the big one, it hit pretty hard. Luckily, my dog died a few years later and it made Roy seem trivial.
Wait. That came out wrong.

[Reginald @ Sep 9th 2007 6:56PM]

Stupid question, but who/what is that pictured in the graphic?

I had a Transformer in the mid-80s that looked just like it called "Jetfire", I believe. He was soo much larger than all my other Transformers that I thought he wasn't actually meant to be a Transformer toy.

Just curious.

[Zadillo @ Sep 9th 2007 7:03PM]

That's a Valkyrie from Macross (known as a Veritech in Robotech).

The Jetfire/Skyfire toy was essentially a Macross toy grafted onto the Transformers line (many Transformers were actually transformable robots from various toylines, etc.).

[Bobo @ Sep 9th 2007 7:05PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF-1_Valkyrie

[kirk @ Sep 9th 2007 7:07PM]

yes, that's "jetfire" ... the jetfire design was borrowed from macross.

[Reginald @ Sep 9th 2007 7:10PM]

...Thanks for the info. That explains his size in comparison to other similar transformers like Starscream.

[Gobias @ Sep 9th 2007 7:06PM]

I've always had mixed feelings about a live action movie. I think it could be awesome, but then again, its Hollywood. So the likelihood of it sucking big time, will be quite high.

Me thinks though, that Robotech would be better served as a mini-series (a true mini-series like Taken, not BSG).

Also, the only part I could see Tobey as, is Max Sterling. He pulls off that nerdy look quite well. I can't see him as Rick or Roy.

[Bobo @ Sep 9th 2007 7:09PM]

I was thinking the same thing. Max Sterling totally. I always thought BSG though was a lot like Robotech, down to the design of the uniforms. I think this thing can be great because Robotech wasn't about AI, but about Mecha and pilots

[John @ Sep 9th 2007 7:15PM]

Hugh Jackman could pull off Roy. Given his complexion and a bad, blonde hair-dye I think he'd look the part.

[Mike V. @ Sep 9th 2007 7:30PM]

Halle Berry for Claudia!

[Audio-Geek (retired) @ Sep 10th 2007 1:11AM]

This got mentioned on /. . Somebody mentioned some stars they'd like to see and most I didn't care one way or the other, but s/he listed Kelly Clarkson for Lin Minmay (spelling?). NO! Nothing against Clarkson, but the Minmay character (love her or hate her) is the embodiment of the Japanese concept of 'cuteness' (kawaisa) and Clarkson just doesn't come close. Probably should be a super-cute, youngish, Japanese actress who really understands and exemplifies kawaisa.

More important is the treatment such a film deserves. My take on it is this: The team producing SiFi channel's Battlestar Galactica should produce this as a series, or at least a mini series. This team creates a high level of intensity and excellent character development, both hallmarks of the Robotech I remember.

I second the nomination of E J Olmos for the Admiral!

[Fafnir_Lux @ Sep 9th 2007 7:25PM]

I was but one year old when Robotech aired. It wasn't until Toonami showed it in the mid-90s that I saw it. It was love at first flight...

I too was scarred once I found out it had been the child of three spliced together Japanese cartoons. I always wondered why in the middle segment the "remains" of the SDF-1 were grassy mesas...(WTF?!?)... The fact that they never quite pinned down what protoculture was by the end of Mospeada always bothered me as well.

There were countless hours of research dedicated to finding out whatever I could about Robotech and Gundam.

As such, when I say they couldn't even pull off an animated movie sequel (The Sentinels) or a sequel series, I shudder to think what could become of a live-action movie. Harmony Gold and ADV will inevitable have a hand in it, so don't think they won't.

In the least, it had better follow the main storyline, unlike the videogames (GBA game excluded, though it was bad...). Couldn't care less about Jack Archer...

[MinceyFresh @ Sep 9th 2007 7:57PM]

They did recently make the movie "The Shadow Chronicles," which is a sequel to the 'Masters' arc... I still haven't had a chance to see it, but an official sequel does exist, fyi. :-)

[Fafnir_Lux @ Sep 9th 2007 8:02PM]

True, I did forget the Shadow Chronicles. Perhaps there is more hope than I thought...

[hokuhoku @ Sep 9th 2007 8:11PM]

The three grassy mesas were supposed to be the SDF-1, the SDF-2 and Khyron's cruiser, which were all apparently destroyed in the final battle of the Macross saga... of course the SDF-2 never really existed per se, and was written into the script to explain the 3 mounds in the Southern Cross storyline.

[ericdano @ Sep 9th 2007 7:41PM]

What about playing Max? I think he'd be perfect for that.