1980s nostalgia is still all the rage, and continues to be leveraged and monetized by Hollywood, so the only real surprise about a live-action ThunderCats movie being in development is that it’s taken so long to happen. Having proven his chops when it comes to handling big budget effects-driven blockbusters with Godzilla vs. Kong, Adam Wingard is now set to bring the residents of Thundera to the big screen.
A feature-length adaptation of the beloved series was announced back in 2007 as an animated film, with veteran video game director Jerry O’Flaherty set to call the shots, but it was never actually given the green light to enter production before being quietly shelved, although test footage from the abandoned project did manage to find its way online eventually.
Apart from that, the only real word we’ve heard surrounding a ThunderCats movie was Milla Jovovich throwing her hat into the ring to play Cheetara, though Vin Diesel has already found himself being rumored for a mystery role. In any case, in a new interview, Wingard revealed that he wants to turn the property into the sort of broad adventure capable of drawing in audiences from every demographic, and admitted that as a fan of the show since childhood, he’s always wanted the opportunity to bring it to life.
“I don’t want ThunderCats to be only accessible to kids. I do want this to feel like when you watch it, you’re watching the actual ’80s cartoon series brought to life, it’s going to be an adventure movie. This has been a lifelong ambition to do this thing. It’s such an insane opportunity for me. And it’s like as soon as that’s ready to go, I’m definitely going to take it.”
Wingard must have impressed the top brass at Warner Bros. with Godzilla vs. Kong to be handed the keys to his passion project in the immediate aftermath, and ThunderCats definitely has the potential to be a huge event picture given the combination of action, adventure, sci-fi and fantasy. It could be a while off, though, with the Face/Off sequel still looking like it’s next up on the filmmaker’s to-do list.