UNIVERSAL Studios Inherits Live Action VOLTRON Movie

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Submitted by S.J. Mitchell on Fri, 11/04/2016 - 15:46

Deadline is reporting that Universal Studios has inherited a live action VOLTRON project, when they inked a deal with DreamWorks Animation.

It was already in development behind the scenes, but Universal now has writer David Hayter (X-Men, Watchmen) and producer Tom Engleman on board. While David Hayter has an extensive list of credits to his resume, Tom Engleman's IMDb page is rather bare.

Hollywood is a 'monkey see, monkey do' industry as studios are constantly on the lookout to see what formula rakes in big bucks at the box office. With VOLTRON being similar to POWER RANGERS, Universal will no doubt use the upcoming Lionsgate film as a benchmark for potential success.

Both VOLTRON and POWER RANGERS are based on the premise of a group of teenagers using giant robots that combine to make an even more giant robot to fight evil. While POWER RANGERS remains a protector of Earth, VOLTRON is a Galaxy Defender; many of the parallels end with 'teens piloting robots'. It's too early to tell if fans will be as divisive as 'Marvel vs DC', but a little friendly competition between studios only benefits those of us throwing our hard earned money at them.

Hollywood is no stranger to making movies that are essentially carbon copies of each other as they pump out romantic comedies about a guy who was friend-zoned, only for the girl to realize her mistake in the end. Those roll off an assembly line of writer's tables every year, with different actors and settings, yet they still make money. I'm pretty sure the target audience for VOLTRON and POWER RANGERS will find room in their wallets for both.

Given the desire for a franchise-style movie property, VOLTRON could be the next 'big thing' for Universal. With a successful animated series entering its second season on Netflix, VOLTRON has been around for over 30 years with a loyal, and growing, fan-base.

Even though it's in the very early stages of planning, and it's a holdover project that was inherited, don't be surprised if it turns out that Universal struck oil in a land already filled with gems.