ThunderCats Live-Action Reboot Updates: Release Date, Cast & Story
Adam Wingard, the director of Godzilla vs. Kong, has announced that he will be spearheading a ThunderCats live-action reboot film. The announcement comes years after a planned ThunderCats film failed to get the green light, and fans have been celebrating the news of the long-awaited live-action film. Wingard broke the news in an exclusive interview with Deadline.
ThunderCats started as an animated series in 1985 before booming into a franchise of comics, action figures, video games, and television reboots. The series centered around a group of warriors known as the ThunderCats, who were cat-like humanoids who made Third Earth their home after their planet was destroyed.
Wingard is the first filmmaker to sign onto a movie with Warner Bros. after their controversial decision to release their 2021 films to HBO Max along with their theatrical releases. Wingard says that Warner Bros. "loves" Godzilla vs. Kong and that they gave him the reins to take on a pre-existing ThunderCats project and make it his own.
A ThunderCats live-action reboot has been in the works for a long time. A CGI-animated film was announced in 2007 and set to release in 2010, but the film was never greenlit. Test footage and concept art from the 2010 film were eventually leaked online, but nothing else of the film was ever seen. Rumors and celebrity interest surrounding a ThunderCats live-action have popped up throughout the years, but fans had almost given up on a ThunderCats film ever happening. With '80s reboots like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power taking fans by storm and Master of the Universe in the works, it's about time for a ThunderCats movie.
So far, there hasn't been much information on what a ThunderCats story could look like — that's because Wingard and his writing partner Simon Barrett have taken on a complete script rewrite. A script had already existed for ThunderCats before Wingard signed on to the project, written by David Coggeshall, but writing a ThunderCats script has been a life-long passion for Wingard. The Godzilla vs. Kong director had written a 272-page-long screenplay of a ThunderCats film in the 10th grade, so Wingard describes ThunderCats as a "dream project."
Though there hasn't been much detail on the story, Wingard has said that he intends to stay true to the classic ThunderCats, both in mythology and aesthetic. In an interview with Den of Geek, Wingard explained that he wants the ThunderCats reboot to feel like an '80s cartoon adventure that adults and kids alike can relate to. Moving away from the live-action appearance of Cats, the Godzilla vs. Kong director hopes a unique CGI hybrid animation could blend together the hyper realism of a live-action and the original aesthetic of the cartoon series.
While there have been no announcements on a possible cast, ThunderCats has amassed an impressive crew behind the scenes. Director Adam Wingard is fresh off of directing Godzilla vs. Kong, which has grossed almost $200 million worldwide. Scott Barrett, Wingard's co-writer, is known for writing scripts for horror movies like You're Next, V/H/S, and The Guest. Producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee — who were producers on Wingard's Death Note— were already attached to the project when Wingard signed on, which increased his interest in the project.
Currently, there is no release date set for ThunderCats. As Wingard and Barrett have recently undertaken a complete script rewrite, it's likely that ThunderCats will not be hitting theaters in 2021.