ThunderCats Movie announced by Warner?

Cartoons ThunderCats (2011)
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ThunderCats Movie in 2010

Hey All,

Looks like Warner has been bit with the nostalgia bug. He-Man now this …

Variety Reports:

It’s Thundercats, ho! at Warner Bros.
Studio has optioned a script by tyro scribe Paul Sopocy to turn the popular 1980s animated series and toy line into a live action feature.

Warner-based Paula Weinstein will produce through her Spring Creek Prods. banner, along with Dick Robertson and Lew Korman.

Property revolves around a group of humanoid cats (with feline names like Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) who must flee their planet of Thundera after it’s destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer, bent on killing them off.

Sopocy has written the script as an origin story expanding on the major heroes and villains from the animated series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats.

Project was brought to Warner by Palek Patel, VP at Spring Creek. Dan Lin is overseeing the pic for Warners.

The Thundercats franchise began in 1983 and spawned several animated series, with the most recent airing on Cartoon Network, a toy line produced by LJN and comicbooks published by Marvel and DC imprints. Warner Bros. has owned the rights to the animated series since acquiring Telepictures Corp. in 1989.

Studio’s recently been bitten by the nostalgia bug, pacting with Joel Silver to produce a live-action “He-Man” movie, based on the toy and cartoon franchise, as well as a feature based on the DC comicbook “Teen Titans,” a junior Justice League.

Weinstein most recently produced Warners’ “Blood Diamond,” and with HBO Films is prepping “Recount,” based on the 2000 presidential election, with Sydney Pollack set to direct.

“Thundercats” is Sopocy’s first studio script sale as a screenwriter. He’s currently senior writer, print advertising, at Fox Broadcasting Co., and has previously penned short films including “Staring at the Sun,” which was screened at the Sundance film fest in 2005.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966320.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

UPDATE: IMDB LINK - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047015/

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Thanks for the heads up!

Front-page worthy!!

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When i see I’ll believe it but if it does pan out it could definitely mean we will be getting a new cartoon as well as a new toy line. Makes me wonder now if there will be news at SDCC of anything else

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Just read about it in a Brazilian web site and also in other US websites and came here to see what people were talking about.

Well, this could be it or maybe another rumor like Mad Max 4 that became another dead project!

Let’s see what happens!

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I taking the stance that most of the He-Man fans are taking over the talk of a MOTU live action movie. Until we see an official announcment from those involved in the movie them I’m not holding my breath.

Still, it’s very encouraging news! :slight_smile:

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New ThunderCats Movie?

Hi, guys. I just learned about this at the EyeOfThundera site. I have to agree with Vintage and MannysCollectables. Let’s wait and see what happens. But there’s both good and bad news connected with this. The good news: It’ll be computer-animated and not live action. The bad news: It won’t be Larry Kenney voicing Lion-O for the film; it will doubtless be some highly-paid movie star. I know that likely doesn’t bother a number of fans, but it does bother me.:bengali:

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Er, I just got an interesting email and post on my board from some dude who claims to have a script to pass out to fans that is this movie, thinking we’ll be outraged. Mind you, I remember this guy from when he was going to the boards trying to hawk his own tcats ‘gem’ of a story. Perhaps he’s disgruntled, perhaps the script sucks (haven’t looked at it yet myself), or perhaps it’s not even real but pure BS. Anyone at TCL get the same message?

I admit, I’m an old cynic when it comes to these announcements. I have been hearing them on and off for years (whether it be series or a new movie ‘in the works’ even when it’s from a reliable source) and it has so far always fallen through or turned out to be bull in the end. And I can’t tell you how many ‘dudes with scripts’ ™ have come along in the same amount of time. So count me in the believe-it-when-I-see-it crowd.

This property seems jinxed but I have a shred of hope left. I’m just wondering about Lockhart and this script leak now. Dare I go open the email attachment? Oh fandom and its drama :roll:

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I have known about this for some time. A person I was in email contact had brought this up months ago. During the filming of transformers, and he wasnt to sure it would make it. I agree with mannyc I will believe it when i see it as thundercats fans have been getting screwed lately (that sorry show of them being a band, possibly new toys etc)

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Chris here…

Just a heads-up, the latest word from Variety.com is that the movie will now not be live-action but instead be CGI-animated:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966320.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Whether that’s better or worse, I leave you guys to debate! :smiley: Myself personally, I’ll believe it when I see it - as much as I love ThunderCats, I can’t really see it having the same box office nostalgia pulling power as a Transformers or He-Man movie, which is not a reflection on quality (for I passionately believe that ThunderCats was the best 1980s action cartoon) but on how much of a cult craze the series was when compared to He-Man, TF, or TMNT - a TCats movie would actually do better business in the UK, IMO. :slight_smile:

Still, a CGI TCats adventure would be great, and of course I’d love to see ThunderCats on the big screen! :smiley:

Take care… :slight_smile:

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I feel like most other people that I will believe it when I see it (even though this is great news, and gets me excited)! Also, I think that live-action would look really weird, so I’m VERY glad to hear they’re going with CGI. It’ll be interesting…

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Computer-Generated T-Cats

Yes, that news definitely has me relieved. The Cats are animated and should stay that way.:bengali:

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As for the dude and his script, that worked itself out if in a rather ugly fashion. I guess it was just me and EOT he went to with that, so consider yourselves lucky here ahem

Anyway, sticking to the variety announcement I too am glad it’s not going to be live action. It might work in some toon fandoms, but I have a harder time seeing it translate for Tcats without a huge budget to get the actors to look right.

Someone pointed out the Hollywood Stock Exchange site to me. This movie isn’t on it yet, but the proposed Voltron one is and isn’t doing too well, heh heh. No respect for 80s properties, I guess.

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I have to agree. Knowing that it will be animated (in one form or another) helps a little bit. Still, an animated series is what I’d prefer.

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I want a live action movie. animated is cool but it has to be live action someday, should be now. I know its a little hard to imagine how the whole thing will look live but thats the magic of it, it would be visually insane…as long as they keep the original costumes, no “all black matrix-suits”…

Check these out: --------->>>

Snarf

http://www.lexodusgate.com/thundercats/gallery/snarf2.jpg

Snarfer

http://www.lexodusgate.com/thundercats/gallery/snarfer1.jpg

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Oh wicked sick! I love those Snarf and Snarfer pics. I can’t believe that Warner is making a ThunderCats CG film. I’ll have to see Movie Trialers on TV or in Move Theatres to believe it.

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Hopefully Transformers will do BIG money and that will help this get made sooner rather than later or not at all.

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Been in contact with Larry Kenney, and he reports that his agent has inquired to WB about voice acting on the movie (they’re waiting on word). I know the trend lately is to have big Hollywood actors do the voices on these things, but I do hope Larry gets the part!
And I guess if he’s done that, this lends definite legitimacy to this movie. Unless something goes wrong along the way, looks like this time’s the charm. We’re getting a movie :slight_smile:

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Chris here…

That’s great news! :slight_smile: Bear in mind that Peter Cullen, who voiced Optimus Prime in the 1980s Transformers animated series, is reprising his role for the new TF live-action movie - so, Larry getting the role of Lion-O for a new TCats movie is not as far-fetched as it might sound! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

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Cool to hear that Thundercats - The Movie is finally leaving the dead script ideas shelf, and is being given a shot. I just really, really hope they don’t bludgeon the public to death with pointless promos and tie-ins like they do with all these latest “superhero” movies. (ex.. Spidey, Flaming 4).
All the ads turned me off so much that I didn’t bother to waste my time or money with them.

On a lighter note, I’m glad to hear CGI is the flavor for this one. It opens up alot more visual possibilities… and if they can make Snarf look like the above image (cleaned up of course.. he really needs a good grooming), then I’m ready to buy the DVD… or whatever the latest tech is come 2010.

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::has a look at the snarf images and squees:: For fanmade images, they just look incredibly snuggly! (yes, damnit - I’m one of the few folks who adored the snarfs. Sue me). :wink:

I’m rather happy to hear that this movie will be done in CGI. True that the special effects of movies and TV has evolved greatly in the past few decades - but really - how convincing could they make actors look like felinoid creatures with body makeup and fake fur/wigs? (even in the case of the Xmen movies when they introduced characters like Beast, Nightcrawler and Archangel - though they looked cool, you could easily tell they were people in stage makeup and fake attachments; in other words, it was hard to believe they were different beings entirely).

With CGI, the whole different species/unholy minions thing can be far more convincing.

My hope for this movie? I pray to God it’s nothing like the Wildstorm Comics (sorry to say to the fans of the series, but the character assasinations involved in the majority of the series were just insulting) or what counts as entertainment in todays action movies (more gore and sex and a near non existant plot). I can handle some violence in this franchise (like broken bones, blood, bruises, death, etc), but one of the things I would rather not see under any circumstances is the female characters switched from strong, independant women who could fend for themselves into these chicks that are scantily dressed/naked, looking sexy, that need rescuing from their male counterparts (this is my biggest worry, naturally).