ROBOTECH movie gets new director, renewed momentum

The live-action movie adaptation of the Robotech animated series sounds like it's getting back on track again, with a new director lined up to helm the project. Rhys Thomas, who recently helmed the Hawkeye TV show for Disney+, is now in line to take on the project.

Robotech aired in the United States in 1985, having been assembled from three unrelated Japanese anime series (Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada) to tell a new story unfolding across three different generations. The first, and most popular, chapter tells the story of an alien spacecraft (the Superdimensional Fortress or SDF-1) crash-landing on Earth in 1999. Its arrival galvanises humanity to work together to unlock the potential of the alien technology and rebuild it to defend the planet, in case its creators came looking for it. Ten years later that happens when the alien Zentraedi attack the planet in an attempt to retake the spacecraft. In an attempt to avoid destruction, the vessel accidentally hyperjumps to the orbit of Pluto, burning out the hyperdrive in the process, and has to make its way back to Earth under normal engine power over two years. The jump also maroons 50,000 civilians in the ship's hold, resulting in tensions between the civilian administration and the military commanders. Eventually the crew of the SDF-1 defeat the Zentraedi with the help of a fifth column of alien sympathisers. In the subsequent series, other aliens arrive on Earth in search of the missing spacecraft, only to get embroiled in further conflicts.

Robotech was hugely popular in the mid-1980s and, alongside the earlier Voltron, arguably helped create the market for anime in the United States which exploded in subsequent years. However, attempts to continue the story with sequel series have proven unsuccessful. Later anime fans were also unhappy with the editing of three separate series into a new story, instead preferring to watch the original versions. Most contentiously, Harmony Gold, the American distributors and creators of the show, blocked the release of the numerous Macross sequel and prequel series in the USA for fear of diluting the Robotech brand. Recently, however, this hurdle was apparently overcome and plans are now underway to bring the full Macross franchise to an American release.

A live-action film project has been grinding forwards since 2007, when Tobey Mcguire was involved as a producer and actor, with Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan working on a script. In 2013 Nic Mathieu was in line to direct. In 2015 the project was refreshed with Sony picking up the rights, before recruiting The Fast and the Furious director James Wan to direct. In 2018 he was replaced by IT director Andy Muschietti but the project then seemed to run aground on legal issues over the rights to the project.

In 2019 Tatsunoko Productions, the Japanese rights-holders of the three original anime series, and Harmony Gold, reached a new agreement related to distribution and production. One of the primary reasons for the deal was to clear the way for a live-action film to boost the profile of the source material, so it's unsurprising that the film project is now back on track. The reason for the three-year delay is, of course, the pandemic which derailed so many projects. Last year Harmony Gold and the animation studios who created the original series reached a new deal to re-release both Robotech and the original Japanese versions of the series for fresh audiences.

The current version of the project has a script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man, Uncharted) and is being produced by Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari. Sony are still on board to produce. It'll be interesting to see if this iteration of the project moves forwards after so many disappointments in the past.

Harmony Gold and Studio Nue confirm collaboration for the continuation of the ROBOTECH and MACROSS franchises

Japanese animation companies Studio Nue, Inc. and Big West Co. Ltd. have announced a fresh collaboration with Harmony Gold USA. The three companies previously collaborated in the mid-1980s to bring Studio Nue and Big West's Macross anime series to American audiences, where it was re-edited and combined with two other shows (Southern Cross and Mospeada) to form an original SF epic called Robotech. The business relationship between the parties has been contentious ever since, with Harmony Gold blocking the release of the various Macross sequel and prequel series in the United States.

The new agreement was made confirming that the Macross animated series can now be released internationally, whilst the Japanese companies have dropped their legal claims that were casting doubt on the release of a planned live-action Robotech movie in Japan.

Harmony Gold previously reached a new distribution deal with Tatsunoko Productions, who worked on Macross with Studio Nue, in 2019 which helped pave the way for this agreement with the remaining stakeholders.

The most likely near-term consequence will be the release or re-release of the original Super Dimensional Fortress Macross series and its canonical sequels Macross 7, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta, and the prequel series Macross Zero, on physical media and streaming platforms.

The bigger deal will be that the planned film version could move ahead. Directors James Wan (Aquaman) and Andy Muschietti (IT) had both been attached to the film before it had gotten mired in development hell, with the Japanese companies objecting to the film's proposed use of Macross characters and mecha designs. This new deal removes those obstacles.

Other ideas that have been floating around for a while, such as a Netflix-produced total remake of Robotech in the vein of their recent Voltron series, are also made possible by this deal. Despite the franchise's name value, Harmony Gold themselves don't have the funding to make a new series (an attempt in 2006, via a straight-to-DVD movie called The Shadow Chronicles, was a failure), so will need to partner with external studios.

Given the ill feeling between the various entities that have existed for almost forty years, it is remarkable that an amicable solution has been worked out, which can only benefit the fans.

Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko Productions reach major new ROBOTECH deal

American animation producers Harmony Gold and Japanese animation studio Tatsunoko Productions have reached a new deal related to the Robotech and Macross franchises. This deal extends Harmony Gold's ownership of the Robotech franchise for potentially decades to come and allows the planned Sony live-action movie to proceed but will also give Tatsunoko a greater share and say in what happens to the wider franchise.

Rewinding a little, back in 1982 Tatsunoko co-produced (with Studio Nue) Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, a game-changing anime series based around transformable mecha war machines. Harmony Gold bought the rights to Macross and two other unrelated but similar shows (Super Dimenson Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada) and writer Carl Macek combined the three of them into one new franchise, re-dubbed to make it appear that it's the same story unfolding over three generations: Robotech. Launched in 1985, Robotech was a big hit, spawning toys, video games, RPGs and a best-selling novel series by Jack McKinney (a pen-name for Brian Daley and James Luceno).

However, attempts to continue the Robotech franchise ran afoul of declining audience interest and complex rights issues with Tatsunoko and another licence holder, Big West, particularly over vehicle and mecha likenesses, some of which were also licenced to the unrelated BattleTech franchise whilst the iconic Veritech/Valkyrie fighter ended up becoming the Transformers character Jetfire. Tatsunoko and Studio Nue also continued to develop Macross sequel and prequel series (such as Macross II, Macross 7, Macross Zero, Macross Frontier and Macross Delta), which Harmony Gold blocked from release in the United States because of fears of confusing audiences. The previous deal between Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko was due to expire in 2021, which some fans welcomed in the hope that both the original and later Macross series would be available in the United States in their original form.

The new deal between Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko extends Harmony Gold's ownership of the rights needed to continue the Robotech franchise for an unspecified time into the future, although some reports suggest this may be on the order of twenty to thirty years. The deal will also apparently allow for new and greater collaboration between the studios moving forwards, and Tatsunoko and Studio Nue will be given greater credit on future re-releases of the Robotech franchise.

Most critically, the deal allows Sony to move forwards with their planned live-action movie version of the project. A big-budget, high-priority project, directors James Wan (Furious 7, Aquaman) and then Andy Muschietti (IT, IT: Chapter Two) have both been attached to the movie. With the rights issue in doubt, Sony moved the project to the backburner and Muschietti has since committed to directing a live-action Attack on Titan movie. It is unclear if Sony will wait for him to finish that project, reconnect with Wan or will start looking for another director altogether.

The immediate impact is that Harmony Gold have re-released the Robotech series on streaming services FilmRise, Vudu and Roku (all US-only, unfortunately) in three formats: the original 1985 version of the series, the "remastered" 2005 version (which has some relatively minor edits) and the original Japanese versions. This is significant as, although Macross has been released several times in its original Japanese incarnation, neither Southern Cross nor Mospeada have been officially released in their original Japanese versions in the West before.

Harmony Gold have also indicated they are willing to work with Tatsunoko to bring the other Macross sequel and prequel series to market in the West, but have not announced firm plans as yet. It should be noted they have said as much multiple times in the past and nothing has happened.

The renewal of the licence also makes other possibilities viable, such as Netflix remaking the original series in a similar manner to their recent reboot of the Voltron franchise.