Spinachcat wrote:Variety announces Sony has Robotech rights
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/robot ... 201460191/Sony Pictures has secured rights to the popular anime series “Robotech” and views the project as a potential film franchise.
The studio hopes to move quickly into production on the live-action feature, with Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton (“300,” “The Immortals”) producing and Michael Gordon (“300,” “GI Joe”) writing the script. The series centered on humanity’s use of robot technology to fend off alien invaders and has an “Independence Day” meets “Star Wars” vibe. It is seen as having the global appeal necessary to become a blockbuster property.
Congrats to Palladium! It looks like their bet on Robotech may turn out awesome.
That'll depend on if Sony are able to navigate the legal minefield surrounding the IP, that has caused this to be a perpetual cluster**** to date. Every couple of years it comes up (last time it was McGuire and DeCaprio?), and then isn't heard from again until the next time.
Both sides, Harmony Gold and the one in charge of the Japanese side, both claim ownership, and I've seen a crapload of armchair lawyers argue both sides, but the likelihood remains, neither side is going to give up the IP without a fight. And if it's expected to be a "blockbuster property", with the money that entails, it's probably going to be a dirty, bitter, and most importantly drawn out fight.
And it's not like Sony can just pay both. Because the money paid to one, will essentially be seen as money taken from the other. And then there's creative rights, and merchandising, and a whole bunch of other aspects that muddy the waters.
Hey, I hope it comes out, and I hope it's not crap (the last two gaming based movies I was hopeful for, were). But this is a small step in what will likely be a long, arduous process.
EDIT: And even if everything there gets sorted out, that's still no guarantee. Kinda like the Rifts movie, which has been in development now for 13 years and counting. And that's nowhere near as messy as the Robotech/Macross thing.