LIVE ACTION ROBOTECH (WB gets the rights)

[Keith]

Yup, pretty sure they only mentioned Hasbro.

[jrcrunch]

i hope if would be really faithful to macross storyline since its the original. i would rather see a jap-am guy (get a new guy and give this as his break thru movie and saves them money) as hikaru rather than rick hunter (which i think robotech portrayed as white, but i will always like the original). hmm i wonder who would play minmay. she should be really really hot (chinese-am or pure chinese) (would there be a shower scence? )! they should be cautious of the ethnicity and the looks of the characters and not change it.i also wonder how would they squeeze the 39 ep into a single movie. and lastly dont forget to have SHOJI KAWAMORI as their mechanical desinger. PLEASE DONT CHANGE THE ROBO DESIGN LIKE WAT TRANSFORMERS DID! I DONT SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE VF-1J/ID/IS!!! THEY ARE ALREADY SUPERB!

***i hope the producers and also tobey maguire would read this thread so we macross fans would be happy***

[Scream Man]

They'll be different alright, u can count on that...

[Robotech_Master]

BTW, are you THE Robotech Master of Space Station Liberty fame?

Yes, that would be me. My latest episode is the one where Kevin McKeever of HG talks (somewhat) about the Robotech live-action movie project. Interesting stuff.

[terry the lone wolf]

Yes, that would be me. My latest episode is the one where Kevin McKeever of HG talks (somewhat) about the Robotech live-action movie project. Interesting stuff.

Yeah I'm downloading your show with Kevin McKeever right now; can't wait to hear it. Thanks for the added FASA/HG info!

[azrael]

Is BigWest going to have any due in copyrights?

I'd be pissed if they weren't credited for making the series.

No. Why should they be? Let me say this again, this is Robotech not Macross. Big West has nothing to do with Robotech. A lot of people are failing to see the legal (and possibly creative) distinction. RT may be using Macross footage, but it's still RT, not Macross.

[Ginrai]

They didn't just buy FASA Interactive, because they clearly have exclusive rights to use Battletech in video games, so it was more than just a design house, it was intellectual property as well.

[Robotech_Master]

They didn't just buy FASA Interactive, because they clearly have exclusive rights to use Battletech in video games, so it was more than just a design house, it was intellectual property as well.

Yeah, that's called "licensing."

Notice how WizKids—not Microsoft—has exclusive rights to publish clicky and pen-and-paper BattleTech/MechWarrior stuff now.

[the white drew carey]

You don't "RC." Harmony Gold did legally smack FASA around and I can prove it.

It went like this.

Back in the day, FASA was shopping around their BattleTech properties to try to get toys and/or cartoons made of them. (They eventually succeeded, but the cartoon was by all reports Teh SuXX0r.)

One of the people they showed their materials to was Playmates.

Funny thing, but later on Playmates came out with an ExoSquad line of power suits and mechs, and funny thing: one of the ExoSquad "E-Frame" mechs was nearly the spitting image of a BattleTech MadCat. (One of the newer Clans designs, completely unrelated to the Macross/Dougram material.)

Eventually, FASA noticed, said, "Hey, you can't do that!" and sued Playmates. In retrospect, this probably was not the wisest thing they could have done considering their relative sizes and budgets; it was akin to a mouse suing a tiger.

Now, as it happened, Playmates was, at the time, partnered with Harmony Gold to do some re-issues of Matchbox Robotech toys under the ExoSquad brand name. We'll probably never know whose idea it was, but it's easy to imagine someone on Playmates, or on their legal defense team, sort of tapping Harmony Gold on the shoulder and saying, "You know, those early BattleTech mech designs look awfully familiar." Based on some of their other behavior in the case, it seems like the sort of thing Playmates's rather slimy legal team would have done. (Ironically, FASA no longer made much significant use of any of those designs anyway, having long since moved on to newer stuff and completely different designs.)

It came out that FASA licensed, or thought it licensed, the mecha designs from the company that made the Macross and Dougram model kits. Maybe they thought the model company had the rights to license them. Maybe the model company thought they had the rights to license them. I'm told by people who know that Japanese contract law is severely muddled at the best of times. But it turned out that they only had the right to make models based on the shows, not sublicense the designs to other firms for other uses—and Harmony Gold, at least at the time, believed they had the rights to the Macross series, the designs used in the series, and all its derivative properties in the USA, and was willing to take action over it. (As to why they'd waited so long, well, for the late '80s and much of the '90s Harmony Gold was all but hibernating, not paying much attention to Robotech or to other Macross properties. This was probably the beginning of their wake-up process that eventually led to Robotech 3000 and Shadow Chronicles.)

So, first FASA sued Playmates, and then Harmony Gold sued FASA in response. To make a long story short, Playmates prevailed over FASA because FASA couldn't quite prove the design was similar enough, and FASA settled out of court with Harmony Gold and stopped using the Macross designs altogether. FASA eventually ceased active business operations to become an IP holding company (some game-industry vets to whom I've spoken say that the legal fees this litigation piled up were a strong contributing factor) and the BattleTech rights were later picked up by WizKids (a company founded by FASA co-founder Jordan Weisman).

All the legal documents pertaining to the case I've been able to find are linked on this page. There are a number of amusing things in them, such as a third-party representative of FASA signing a consent form that signed away rights he actually had no authority to sign away (you'd think business people would read these things before they sign, but it looks like they're just the same as the rest of us in that regard), and Playmates's lawyers trying to do an end-run around the judge when the judge refuses to pile their legal fees onto FASA (and the judge's venomous final opinion, issued on April 1st and you can't tell me that's coincidental, after it's remanded back to him to justify his decision more fully).

That should settle once and for all the idea that HG suing FASA was just an "assumption."

Well, I stand corrected. Although I believe your color commentary may be skewing things a bit.

[Ginrai]

If they could just license Battlech/MechWarrior exclusively, why bother to absorb their studio?

[Robotech_Master]

If they could just license Battlech/MechWarrior exclusively, why bother to absorb their studio?

I would assume the license came with the studio.

Anyway, the fact that they bought Interactive but not the parent company is verifiable, so regardless of why they might have done it, it can safely be said that they did.

[1st Border Red Devil]

I was thinking about something earlier. It occured to me that HG COULD conceivably make a non-Macross based movie that should draw in many fans. There is the matter of Colonel Wolfe, sort of the kind of character like Boba Fett that people drool all over (eventhough Wolfe appears all of once and croaks to boot). They could make a movie chronicling his arrival with The Wolfe Pack over Earth during the 2nd Robotech War and his unit's subsequent survival of The Invid Invasion. This way they avoid the potential legal landmine, draw in fans who probably want to know 'Just how was it Wolfe got to Earth' etc as well as covering the latter 2 arcs in some detail (though I would guess the InterWar period would be covered moreso than either the 2nd or 3rd).

Wolfe gets to cover all the bases as he started off as a fighter jock of some renown before switching to Special Forces. Considering what Mark Bowden wrote about the Delta Force guys in the Black Hawk Down incident, Wolfe fits image that to a tee. This way, movie fans get the best of both worlds and no legal hassles.

Of course...this will never happen as HG pretty well has to be bludgeoned half to death to keep from making everything Macross-based in one form or another.

[Robotech_Master]

Of course...this will never happen as HG pretty well has to be bludgeoned half to death to keep from making everything Macross-based in one form or another.

Funny you should say that given that one of the callers on my show the other night complained of exactly the opposite: there were almost no traces whatsoever of Macross in Shadow Chronicles save for Rick Hunter (who looked radically different from his Macross incarnation, even so). No Lisa, no mention of "Zentraedi," etc. If anything, it seems likely that HG wants to get rid of every last trace of Macross that it can for future incarnations of the show.

[jenius]

Wolfe gets to cover all the bases as he started off as a fighter jock of some renown before switching to Special Forces. Considering what Mark Bowden wrote about the Delta Force guys in the Black Hawk Down incident, Wolfe fits image that to a tee. This way, movie fans get the best of both worlds and no legal hassles.

I think the fatal flaw to the idea of a Wolfe-based movie is he ends up being a traitor. Imagine if you watched Star Wars, got all excited to see more about Luke, picked up a cartoon, and found out Luke became a double-agent leading new potential Jedi into the jaws of the Sith. It'd be like Borat finding out Pamela wasn't a virgin. I can't really see that being a direction anyone would want to head down. I would agree with you that that timeframe is ripe for a story and offers plenty of fanboy candy in the form of all the cameos that could be written in. I think it's far more logical for a sequel though. First things first, I think we need a story that sets up humanity getting alien technology and their new uber-resource.

Of course...this will never happen as HG pretty well has to be bludgeoned half to death to keep from making everything Macross-based in one form or another.

One form or another huh? So you're actually going to be upset if the movie version of Robotech is based off the series longest chapter, its most popular chapter, and its starting point? C'mon, even if you hate it you know it's the most logical choice (so long as it's just loosely "based" off of Macross). Robotech Master has a point too, it seems Mospeada is HG's baby, they just milk some profits from Macross in the form of MOICHANDIZING and even that's been quiet for a while.

[Valkyrie addict]

errr...i don't remember too well, but who's this wolfe character?!

[jenius]

errr...i don't remember too well, but who's this wolfe character?!

He's an oddly romanticized (among RT-philes) bit character from The New Generation portion. If you recall, Scott and crew find Soldier Town, a town the Invid don't seem to be attacking despite the fact it's packed with soldiers. It's discovered that the legendary Commander Wolfe is running the place and he's taking small packs of soldiers on missions to a nearby hive to steal protoculture. The truth of the matter is, he's buying the town's safety by surrendering promising soldiers to the Invid on these little missions. Rand figures out his rouse and he redeems himself by saving Scott's life but surrenders his own in the process. Scott's all thoroughly impressed by Wolfe's piloting skills in the episode despite the fact they don't seem all that spectacular but that's another issue.

He's just enough of a cold badArse that fans seem to like him. Banking on this, and increasing his brand, the RT novels gave him some bigger backstory where he was knockin' boots with Dana Sterling at one point and was an expert hover tanker as well as an expert Alpha pilot.

[areaseven]

You know, why even bother to make an attempt to produce an original live-action Robotech? All they have to do is grab some unrelated titles and splice them together - just like what they did for the series. Here are some good places to start:

Transmorphers

And while we're at it, let's throw in some CG sequences from

to sweeten the deal. And since WB is producing the film, splice in some footage from Battlefield Earth as well.

There - you got your live-action Robotech movie.

Though I still prefer to have Vivid Entertainment produce one...

[Guest sh002]

whoa. the top one must be the new zentradi power armors and the bottom one the gbp armor.

[Keith]

I'm glad you did it, becuase I've been fighting the temptation for days to post a picture of Transmorphers

[warpaint22]

Robot Jox that was the movie that I thought of when this topic opened, man that is one bad movie.

[Twoducks]

Now I need to see Robot Jox (I think I did as a kid...). Stop motion robot cheese at its finest.

I say screw CG. Build them in real life and have a legion of puppeteers move them around:

[Apollo Leader]

Looks like one of the guys on the hero's team looks and sort of sounds like Jim Ross! The Southern accent, the black cowboy hat, the puffy face...

That's the first time I've seen Robot Jox period. I wonder if MST3K ever covered this movie? Got to wonder why they have such a small arena when you got these big robots that would so easily fall into the bleachers?

As for those wondering about the direction of the Robotech movie, I extremely doubt we're going to see much of anything from Macross in it. We'll probably have triple changing variable fighters, maybe a love triangle, the Robotech incarnation of "Protoculture", lots of big star ships (maybe one or more variable), but stuff directly ripped from and unique to Macross will be at a bare minimal if not all. It will probably be in the vein of Mospeada/New Generation or the Shadow Chronicles.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Apollo Leader

[VF5SS]

I find it hilarious that RT-philes like Wolfe aka Major Jonathan aka JONASHAN SHOUSHAAAA! Man that guys was a dick. I suppose anyone who reminds Stick of just how much of an idiot he is can't be all bad.

[Mowe]

With Omni Existence's permission, I think his Pshop hits the nail on the casting for the Roy Hoffer role.

"I vote for David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff to play Fokker... he's tall, middle aged, and drunk. He'll pull it off, just dye him blonde...... besides, he dies in the first 30-45 minutes anyway." Omni Existence from Robot Japan

Edited September 13, 2007 by Mowe

[Steve68]

That has to be the one of the best worst P'shop jobs I've ever seen

Did anyone else listen to the interview from Space Station Liberty where Kevin McKeever of HG talks about the RT movie? I think he went a little overboard with the "HG owns everything RT" statements. It pretty much came across as they don't own that much, and he is over compensating by making a big deal about them owning everything.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Steve68

[Roy Focker]

Well that is pretty all he can say on the issue. Yes HG does own RT. A big vague but true statement.

I did come to a conclusion. It is pretty much impossible that it will be a trilogy that follows the cartoon. Think about it. If Tobey plays Rick Hunter in the 1st film what happens in the sequel? In the second film the entire cast is replaced. The new lead Dana Sterling is female and is suppose to be the daughter of bit part from the 1st film? People will be thinking the sequels have to be bad cause Tobey wasn't in them.

[jenius]

Nah, you follow the REF and return like they do in Shadow Chronicles. Leave the Masters arch off screen.

[azrael]

http://www.filmjerk.com/news/article.php?id_new=521

I don't see RT in that list so chances are, RT will not start until after the potential strike deadline in June 2008.

[Robotech_Master]

In an odd display of synchronicity, Slashdot is carrying a story about FASA Studio (what FASA Interactive was renamed to when bought by Microsoft) officially closing its doors today.

[vermillion01]

http://www.filmjerk.com/news/article.php?id_new=521

I don't see RT in that list so chances are, RT will not start until after the potential strike deadline in June 2008.

off topic i know....

Disney are remaking G-force?!?! how did that slip by me?

[Ginrai]

In an odd display of synchronicity, Slashdot is carrying a story about FASA Studio (what FASA Interactive was renamed to when bought by Microsoft) officially closing its doors today.

That's ironic. So what does that mean for the future of MechWarrior/Mech Assault/whatever games? Now Microsoft just makes them with one of its internal studios?

[Garou Kuroryuu]

After reading the whole thread (yes, I DID it), it came to me something.

Even if WB/Spidey got the rights for the movie, I'm sure it's in the most of HG's interests that the movie reflects in a way (whichever) what they're trying to pull for their own Roblowtek story/toys/merchandise action plan.

And after a couple of out-of-sense aircraft drawings, I realized that the Alpha (i know, Legioss!!) are already close enough to 21st-century fighter aircraft (thouh quite blocky) for an easy and quick upgrade. Just picture a "softened-blended-lines" Alpha and you get a bastard F-35/YF-23 spin off:

- Over fuselage engine "pods" (YF-23)

- No real horizontal stabilizers (YF-23)

- VTOL (F-35. I remember the Legioss had an under fuselage engine, so one could imagine a fan for lift)

Of course, a lot of "blending" and modifications would need to be made to the design, but I believe it can still fill both needs: be palatable to 21st century movie goers (WB) and retain a Legioss-like appearance (HG).

I'm not saying this is what will happen, but I think it's a logical way to put it and not that far stretched. God knows what WB is really thinking in the end.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Garou Kuroryuu

[Jasonc]

I'm interested in seeing this movie, but what I would really hope for in this endeavor, is that it opens the door for the Macross anime that isn't over here yet, to make it's way to a good distributor. I'd like to see a clean, official sub of Macross Zero, the Macross Frontier, DYRL, and yes, even M7. that's my only hope in this. And just because the designs are old on the anime doesn't mean they have to update the design. If they do redesign them, I don't think it'll have much to resemble for Row boat tech. Very techs won't be the same without the tomcat look. Although Toby is a great actor, I don't think he's a Rick Hunter. Actually, I don't see any actor that can really play a Rick Hunter, or Hikaru, well, you get what I mean. At least the WB is doing it, a professional company, and not the current staff at HG. That would be disasterous, even moreso than it is now.

well, here's to seeing if this movie puts some life into the mecha anime market, and gives Robotech some life, or kills it off. Only time will tell.

[Keith]

You know, the only way this would truly work, and be entertianing I think, would be if tobey could somehow talk Sam Raimi into directing.

Can you picture it now? Ted Raimi is Max!

[lord_breetai]

HG's never credited them before. The extent of their Japanese credits were mentioning Tatsunoko. So I doubt any of that would change now.

Not so sure about that... if any of you bothered to read the credits for Shadow Chronicles they gave design credits to Yoshitaka Amano and the other MOSPEADA designers... and credit for other things as well.

To all those who say this is going to be the Macross-saga with Invid, not bloodly likely. I think the Expidition would still make the best movie for the general public, piss of the least ammount of fans and be one of the few possible ways to make this owrk in the frame work of continuity.