‘Red Notice’ director’s live-action ‘Voltron’ movie ignites a bidding war

Writer and director Rawson Marshall Thurber is now a million miles away from his origins as the creator of small-scale comedies like Dodgeball and We’re the Millers, with the filmmaker firmly entrenched in the blockbuster business.

Fresh from delivering Netflix’s most-watched original movie ever in the star-studded Red Notice, Thurber has ignited a bidding war among Hollywood’s biggest outfits after attaching himself to co-write and helm a live-action adaptation of Voltron. The Hollywood Reporter revealing that at least half a dozen studios and streamers are already interested in the package, but Netflix aren’t said to be in the running.

Based on the Japanese animated series Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV, Voltron revolves around five pilots who form a battalion named as the Robot Lions, which join together to create the titular mech. It was an instant hit at the time, and has long since cemented a reputation as a cult favorite, but this isn’t the first time we’ve heard tales of a big budget Americanized adaptation.

Voltron has been floating around development hell for close to two decades already at this point, with DreamWorks even attempting to get it off the ground as an animated feature at one stage. Thurber has plenty of sway and cache these days, though, so the wait to bring the property to the big screen is looking like it could finally be over.

It might have to get in line before making it in front of cameras, with Voltron joining the intended back-to-back Red Notice sequels and a Dungeons & Dragons TV show on Thurber’s to-do list.