Gubaba Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 So reading between the lines the project is in development hell (*big* surprise) and only has one possible star attached. I give it ten years at least, if we ever see it at all..... Taksraven I dunno. That may just be wishful thinking on (y)our part...
Gui Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Frankly, such project is more an utopia than anything else to begin with: put aside all the Macross license mess thingies, the story of the whole show is not exactly the sort of material you can summarize in a pair of hour or so. Even Macek himself didn't try to do this with his infamous Robotech Movie back in the 80s... Maguire was on crack when he decided to produce this RT movie
RavenHawk Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Frankly, such project is more an utopia than anything else to begin with: put aside all the Macross license mess thingies, the story of the whole show is not exactly the sort of material you can summarize in a pair of hour or so. Even Macek himself didn't try to do this with his infamous Robotech Movie back in the 80s... Maguire was on crack when he decided to produce this RT movie I read an interview with him a couple days ago in the back of an old Robotech comic, and he pretty much refused to even discuss Robotech: The Movie, saying it was horrible and he never wanted it made in the first place.
Einherjar Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 I read an interview with him a couple days ago in the back of an old Robotech comic, and he pretty much refused to even discuss Robotech: The Movie, saying it was horrible and he never wanted it made in the first place. Too bad he didn't have the chance to do a Alan Smithee, which, if I'm reading it right, required him to be a real director/industry man and member of the Guild. He should have known he couldn't do a cut and paste job forever.
taksraven Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I dunno. That may just be wishful thinking on (y)our part... Maybe, I think that its more of a case of the franchise being relatively successful, but not as much as the Transformers franchise so therefore I don't think it is going to glide smoothly through the movie-making process. Financing will be a pain as well, because to do it properly I think its going to need a larger effects budget than the TF film. Taksraven
Sdf Prime Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I am trying to figure out how they would adapt robotech into a movie. Would they try to make a trilogy, one for each portion of the series or try to make a series of movies based solely on the Macross portion, from what I understand is the most popular portion of Robotech. Of course to make a series of movies the first one had better be successful or no one will be interested in making sequels.
taksraven Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I am trying to figure out how they would adapt robotech into a movie. Would they try to make a trilogy, one for each portion of the series or try to make a series of movies based solely on the Macross portion, from what I understand is the most popular portion of Robotech. Of course to make a series of movies the first one had better be successful or no one will be interested in making sequels. Thats probably what they are trying to figure out as well. I personally think that if they made the film so it covered about the first third of the "First Robotech War" (up to the point where the SDF-1 returns to Earth,), that would be a good amount of material to cover for a first film. To try to fit 85 TV episodes into 3 films would be suicidal (I feel dirty having written that suggestion, though...) Taksraven
Einherjar Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 If they went that route they may have an easier time doing it like the Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter films through the Robotech novels, one for every book. Sure, it would take decades to finish the entire story, either the TV series or novel series, but it would guarantee work and potential profits for years until people got sick of it dragging on. Too bad the books don't count with the current creative team though.
Gui Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I read an interview with him a couple days ago in the back of an old Robotech comic, and he pretty much refused to even discuss Robotech: The Movie, saying it was horrible and he never wanted it made in the first place. Pretty much what I heard too, except that he sort of 'accused' the producers (Cannon Films IIRC) to have insisted he put more robots and less girls in the movie which was simply a dub of Megazone 23 to begin with (but less the violence and the sex): so he had to add some footage from Southern Cross but these ones were in TV format and once projected onto the big screen simply looked horrible compared to the rest of the movie; this would be why this movie is now repudiated by HG and Macek himself (who didn't want to add these footages from SC but not not doing the movie in itself: actually, this story is not uninteresting at all and the work itself is pretty much well watchable on a comp' or a TV...)
JB0 Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Thats probably what they are trying to figure out as well. I personally think that if they made the film so it covered about the first third of the "First Robotech War" (up to the point where the SDF-1 returns to Earth,), that would be a good amount of material to cover for a first film. Plow all the way through to the end of the war, just like Macross did! Robotech: We Can Win. Coming soon(er or later)to a theater(or Blockbuster) near you
terry the lone wolf Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 There's this guy called the Watcher who reviewed RT the Movie on you tube. He postulated that the reason for the movie's shelving was that Transformers the Movie did so horrible at the box office and Transformers was a bigger franchise; they decided to not release it. Like Canon films would take a chance on distributing a terrible film (even though, I kinda like it) just to make some money and fill seats. Now on to the debate, Kevin McKeever has stated that any of three chapters of Robotech is open to the producers of the live action movie including Macross.
Sdf Prime Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Now on to the debate, Kevin McKeever has stated that any of three chapters of Robotech is open to the producers of the live action movie including Macross. From what I have read when they first described Robotech I think they mentioned getting technology from a crashed alien spacecraft and their survival being in the hands of two pilots. Sounds kind of like the Macross portion with the crashed alien spacecraft part, but who are the two pilots supposed to be? I would assume Rick is one but would the other one be Roy or Max?
Gubaba Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 From what I have read when they first described Robotech I think they mentioned getting technology from a crashed alien spacecraft and their survival being in the hands of two pilots. Sounds kind of like the Macross portion with the crashed alien spacecraft part, but who are the two pilots supposed to be? I would assume Rick is one but would the other one be Roy or Max? I think those news sources use a lot of...*ahem*..."independent research." I doubt they got their info about Robotech's plot from either Warners or HG. Remember the early news that Tobey McGuire would be playing a robot in it...? Regarding Ted McKeever...quite a while back, I listened to the podcast where he said they had "the rights to all of Robotech." Since that's all he would say, and since he kept repeating those exact words, it makes me think there's some kind of legal ass-covering going on... "We have the rights to ALL of Robotech." There's something important about the wording of that sentence. I don't know what it is, and I doubt anyone could say what it is (except HG's lawyers, who I'm sure crafted it). But the fact that he couldn't say anything else (and apologized for sounding like a broken record) leads me to believe that, even if he wasn't quite walking on legal eggshells, those legal eggshells were present in the room with him.
VFTF1 Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 "We have the rights to ALL of Robotech." I interpret this as meaning "We understand that there is a dispute regarding what exactly Robotech entails, and what falls under Robotech and what doesn't. Instead of publically acknowledging this dispute and trying to figure out what falls under Robotech and what doesn't, we're just going to pretend that Robotech is what we want it to be and say that we have rights to ALL of Robotech." In other words - if they want to use something derivative (of Macross) they can. If you think something derivative (of Macross) is not Robotech - they are not going to discuss it with you. They have rights to ALL of Robotech. But wait sir - that's not Robo... "ALL OF ROBOTECH kid." That's how it sounds to me. Pete
Einherjar Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Regarding Ted McKeever...quite a while back, I listened to the podcast where he said they had "the rights to all of Robotech." Since that's all he would say, and since he kept repeating those exact words, it makes me think there's some kind of legal ass-covering going on... "We have the rights to ALL of Robotech." There's something important about the wording of that sentence. I don't know what it is, and I doubt anyone could say what it is (except HG's lawyers, who I'm sure crafted it). But the fact that he couldn't say anything else (and apologized for sounding like a broken record) leads me to believe that, even if he wasn't quite walking on legal eggshells, those legal eggshells were present in the room with him. It sounds more like a PR move rather than credible information. Probably a calculated one since he said it during a Q&A portion of the podcast (Space Station Liberty) with ties to the staff to assure the fandom about the status of the fanchise while at the same time covering his mouth against legal problems. Also, Kevin Mckeever is listed as a marketing coordinator, so he could be a glorified yes man or sly liar for Robotech.
RavenHawk Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Pretty much what I heard too, except that he sort of 'accused' the producers (Cannon Films IIRC) to have insisted he put more robots and less girls in the movie which was simply a dub of Megazone 23 to begin with (but less the violence and the sex): so he had to add some footage from Southern Cross but these ones were in TV format and once projected onto the big screen simply looked horrible compared to the rest of the movie; this would be why this movie is now repudiated by HG and Macek himself (who didn't want to add these footages from SC but not not doing the movie in itself: actually, this story is not uninteresting at all and the work itself is pretty much well watchable on a comp' or a TV...) I own and have watched all part of Megazone 23 a number of times, and actually would be really curious to see how the Macek take on it would have been in a... purer, let's say, form. It's especially interesting that they commissioned a new ending there, which had nothing to do with the original. I would love to see this re-released (though I have no delusions that it would happen), with the new ending, but removal of the Southern Cross footage. Like said before, it is rather jarring, with the movie quality frames vs. the tv episode frames.
jenius Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Obviously a Robotech live action film would have to throw much of what we know about Robotech to the wind for a multitude of reasons. This opens the door too wide open so there's going to be lots of different visions produced by the people trying to scheme it up and create lots of problems reaching any sort of consensus. If I were working on the project, I'd much rather just make The New Generation be the movie. If it was successful you could do a Macross-like prequel. New Gen is so episodic in its construction that it lends itself most easily to being condensed in a huge way. Start with a preamble of Earth having been over-run by an alien species and scattered humanity empowered with alien technologies recovered from a crashed ship returning to their home planet to reclaim it. Then jump right into the first assault wave, Scott's journey, meeting up with friends, encountering resistance, forming his own gang, reaching Reflex Point, climactic battle, Invid leave, roll credits. They say the best way to pitch movies in Hollywood is to be able to summarize it in one sentence that compares it to a smash hit. Alien was "Jaws in space." New Gen could be "Robin Hood (the Kevin Costner film) in a Mad Max era."
sketchley Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Jenius has a good point. Let's also keep in mind how different the transformers movie ended up being from the original TV series (and I'm not just refering to the mecha designs).
sketchley Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) I interpret this as meaning "We understand that there is a dispute regarding what exactly Robotech entails, and what falls under Robotech and what doesn't. Instead of publically acknowledging this dispute and trying to figure out what falls under Robotech and what doesn't, we're just going to pretend that Robotech is what we want it to be and say that we have rights to ALL of Robotech." In other words - if they want to use something derivative (of Macross) they can. If you think something derivative (of Macross) is not Robotech - they are not going to discuss it with you. They have rights to ALL of Robotech. But wait sir - that's not Robo... "ALL OF ROBOTECH kid." That's how it sounds to me. Pete You know what? I interpret as the exact opposite of what you do. A big movie company wants to maximize it's profits and wants to minimize any legal troubles that a) will reduce the market of the film and b) cost a lot of money in litigation. In other words, the "legal eggshells" are acknowledging that they "can" use elements of SDF:M, but they probably are not going to rely on it, especially the designs from it, in any future moving pictures production. As in, they want to sell it in Japan. If the movie is a clone of Macross, they cannot release it in Japan. Period. Edited February 1, 2009 by sketchley
taksraven Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 From what I have read when they first described Robotech I think they mentioned getting technology from a crashed alien spacecraft and their survival being in the hands of two pilots. Sounds kind of like the Macross portion with the crashed alien spacecraft part, but who are the two pilots supposed to be? I would assume Rick is one but would the other one be Roy or Max? The second pilot wouldn't be Max or Roy, it would be a new character called Poochy. Taksraven
taksraven Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I think those news sources use a lot of...*ahem*..."independent research." I doubt they got their info about Robotech's plot from either Warners or HG. Remember the early news that Tobey McGuire would be playing a robot in it...? Regarding Ted McKeever...quite a while back, I listened to the podcast where he said they had "the rights to all of Robotech." Since that's all he would say, and since he kept repeating those exact words, it makes me think there's some kind of legal ass-covering going on... "We have the rights to ALL of Robotech." There's something important about the wording of that sentence. I don't know what it is, and I doubt anyone could say what it is (except HG's lawyers, who I'm sure crafted it). But the fact that he couldn't say anything else (and apologized for sounding like a broken record) leads me to believe that, even if he wasn't quite walking on legal eggshells, those legal eggshells were present in the room with him. Thats my suspicion as well. HG CLAIMS to own the rights to all of Robotech and everything else, but I would be willing to bet that they are on shakier legal ground than they are letting on. If this project goes ahead, I predict that lawsuits would come flying from everywhere. Maybe even from Macek himself. (I know that I am going to get howled at from those who claim to know that I am wrong). Look at what happened recently with Watchmen and its legalities. Sure it did get settled and relatively quickly, but I think a fair amount of that may have been the result of the fact that the film was made and ready to go. If legal bickering was to break out BEFORE the production of a RT film, don't be surprised if the project is wrapped up and abandoned prematurely. I see another possiblity (that may have been mentioned here before) and that is that a RT film is not a serious consideration. It could be just a way for some hollywood types to "invest" their money in a film (or some white powder) that is going to create a tax write off for them. I think that more serious consideration of a RT film has been going on here than any hollywood office or planning room. Taksraven
Gui Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I own and have watched all part of Megazone 23 a number of times, and actually would be really curious to see how the Macek take on it would have been in a... purer, let's say, form. It's especially interesting that they commissioned a new ending there, which had nothing to do with the original. I would love to see this re-released (though I have no delusions that it would happen), with the new ending, but removal of the Southern Cross footage. Like said before, it is rather jarring, with the movie quality frames vs. the tv episode frames. Honnestly, this difference between TV footage and movie footage didn't bug me at all but, again, I watched all of them at the same resolution so my lack of displeasure probably comes from there. It's probably one of the very few movies you should better watch on TV than in a theater I think a domestic release on DVD could have been possible a few years ago but now, with HD/Blue Ray stuff, people would want it 1280*1024 16/9 which would ruin it all over again so, yes, I agree it'll never be re-released Anyway, I'll not lose sleep over it: after all, it's mainly an anime fanboy relic, and all the more as it is more or less commonly available on the net now, BoxTorrents for example... Still, it's surprising that all this 'production mess' resulted into the story of this movie happens during the less loved part of the RT time-line: that's probably another reason why this movie is hated so much
Gubaba Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Thats my suspicion as well. HG CLAIMS to own the rights to all of Robotech and everything else, but I would be willing to bet that they are on shakier legal ground than they are letting on. If this project goes ahead, I predict that lawsuits would come flying from everywhere. Maybe even from Macek himself. (I know that I am going to get howled at from those who claim to know that I am wrong). Look at what happened recently with Watchmen and its legalities. Sure it did get settled and relatively quickly, but I think a fair amount of that may have been the result of the fact that the film was made and ready to go. If legal bickering was to break out BEFORE the production of a RT film, don't be surprised if the project is wrapped up and abandoned prematurely. I see another possiblity (that may have been mentioned here before) and that is that a RT film is not a serious consideration. It could be just a way for some hollywood types to "invest" their money in a film (or some white powder) that is going to create a tax write off for them. I think that more serious consideration of a RT film has been going on here than any hollywood office or planning room. Taksraven I hope you're right that it's just a write-off, but I kind of doubt it. Warners HAS to know that Robotech is somewhat popular, not just in the English speaking world, but also in South America and China,* and Hollywood these days is all about international sales (which is why good dialogue is no longer an important consideration in Hollywood movies). Someone, I'm sure, thinks they can make a bundle on this if they can sell it to the right countries. *At least, a large portion of Robotech fansites seem to be South American in origin. And a while back, I recommended Macross to one of my Chinese friends. Later, he said he liked the first section of the story (with "Ri-ka" and "Li-sa"), but didn't like the second part, with the hovertanks. After explaining to him that what he was watching wasn't Macross, he went back and found Macross Zero. I don't think he ever got the original SDFM.
jenius Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I think some people in this thread are being confused. HG, without a doubt, owns all of the rights to everything Robotech. You have to think of Robotech being a unique creation and ignore the fact it is, at its core, and adaptation of three other unique creations. Since Robotech is an adaptation though it becomes it's own intellectual property giving its creators the ability to do whatever they want with it. There are issues caused by having that core though, wherever RT stuck too closely to the original property there would have to be changes. Since this is going to be a live action movie, there were likely going to be HUGE changes to the RT story any way. Now we'll all get to say "Ha, they made that change because they didn't have the rights to Macross" but the truth could just be they made a change because they felt it'd come over to the live action film world better.
Einherjar Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I think some people in this thread are being confused. HG, without a doubt, owns all of the rights to everything Robotech. You have to think of Robotech being a unique creation and ignore the fact it is, at its core, and adaptation of three other unique creations. Since Robotech is an adaptation though it becomes it's own intellectual property giving its creators the ability to do whatever they want with it. There are issues caused by having that core though, wherever RT stuck too closely to the original property there would have to be changes. Since this is going to be a live action movie, there were likely going to be HUGE changes to the RT story any way. Now we'll all get to say "Ha, they made that change because they didn't have the rights to Macross" but the truth could just be they made a change because they felt it'd come over to the live action film world better. They will have to be careful what they change and how they change it for the movie. The whole thing could become unrecognizable to even Robotech fans but crazy awesome to everyone else who don't know, which I assume is the target audience now. They could get past the legal issues this way, but Robotech may never be the same again.
RD Blade Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 The same was said about Transformers. In the end, the changes didn't really matter. Something about live action movies makes them easily dismissed by longtime fans.
Sdf Prime Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Since this is going to be a live action movie, there were likely going to be HUGE changes to the RT story any way. Now we'll all get to say "Ha, they made that change because they didn't have the rights to Macross" but the truth could just be they made a change because they felt it'd come over to the live action film world better. I imagine a lot things will look different in a live action version. Uniforms would probably be changed variable fighters would probably be different. I wonder if they will try to put a transforming SDF-1 in there. Could the ship even be called SDF-1 without causing a problem ?
jenius Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Transformers is a good example. Any of you holding out hope that this will somehow be a faithful live action adaptation of the cartoon, you're just fooling yourself. It seems they're going to stick to a couple key aspects of the story, an alien ship crashing, humans making transformable jets, and then the aliens coming and starting a war. For people who haven't seen Robotech in 20 years, that's all it will need to be for them to recognize it as Robotech. Those people don't remember the names and backgrounds of the characters. Those people won't remember what Protoculture was or any point finer than that. The diehard fans who have seen Robotech at all recently will probably get a few dialogue bits that are nods to the original series but nothing much more than that. New fans, who probably will never watch the original cartoon, are what this movie will need to suck in so developing a story for them will be where the real effort lies.
Einherjar Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 The second pilot wouldn't be Max or Roy, it would be a new character called Poochy. Taksraven Perhaps Rick Hunter and Ridge Forester? Maybe a Bernard or an orange shirt since Rick already uses red.
taksraven Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 The only way that RT should make it to the big screen.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvfXBNk-JVM...feature=related Taksraven
VFTF1 Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 Jenius' arguments are very logical and probably the most likely scenario if RT goes ahead. You're absolutely right - the licensing debate will be maningless, because they aren't going to use the old 80s Veritech designs, they aren't going to make the Glaugs and all the other mecha look like they did in the cartoon - so yeah - this will all be a moot point. They might use names like Rick Hunter and Roy Fokker and Lisa etc - but all of these names (except Roy) are not from Macross anyways... however - Start with a preamble of Earth having been over-run by an alien species and scattered humanity empowered with alien technologies recovered from a crashed ship returning to their home planet to reclaim it Half the audience falls asleep at this point, of which one quarter start having flash back nightmares to Captain Power... . Then jump right into the first assault wave, Scott's journey, meeting up with friends The other half of the audience that managed to stay awake begins to scratch its' head in confusion wondering what the hell is going on here...and what any of this has to do with that long and confusing pre-amble... encountering resistance, forming his own gang, reaching Reflex Point, climactic battle, Invid leave, roll credits. The entire audience cheers - at the credits - because it means this piece of crap movie is finally over and they can go home. Pete
taksraven Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 Just out of interest. How many of us here would pay to go and see an RT movie in the cinema? (even if its just to mock it) I would go. Taksraven
Gui Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 I'll pay the ticket just to see giant robots fighting each others on the big screen with current SPFX tech: I don't expect anything good storywise for SF movies any more anyway, and since a dozen of years now...
Dynaman Posted February 2, 2009 Posted February 2, 2009 I have hope for the movie, Tobey Maguire is a fan of the series, coming off of the Spiderman success. I believe that HE - if no one else - wants to make a good adaption of the show. The last time something along this line happened a little film called "Forest Gump" was created. (Tom Hanks wanted to make the movie, and was given the go ahead simply because he was Tom Hanks - AKA Mr. Film Studio Paydirt). Please note that Hope is not the same thing as blind faith...
.thumb.jpg.bc0aa3d6a43314c42575bd21a0963db5.jpg)
Recommended Posts