THUNDERCATS Movie Gets an Update From Director Adam Wingard

It’s been years since there’s been any kind of update on the live-action ThunderCats movie that is being developed by director Adam Wingard. This is a project that I was once excited about until I saw how Wingard handled the Godzilla and King Kong films at Legendary. But, maybe ThunderCats will be more his speed. I don’t know, I just want a great freakin’ ThunderCats film!

As the filmmaker is making the rounds promoting his latest film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, during an interview with io9, the filmmaker offered a little update on what’s going on with ThunderCats, saying:

“Simon [Barrett] and I are still actively working on the script. We finished our last draft basically right when I was going into production on this movie and we just had to put everything on hold. [But] right now we’re actively working on it again. So whether that means that’s the next thing I do or [not], I’m not sure. But it’s definitely one of the top priorities I have right now in terms of working on a script.”

One of the other film projects that Wingard is working on his Face/Off movie, and when talking about that one, he said:

“Almost in the middle of production [on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire], we were finishing our draft of the script and because both of us were too busy working on other things there was a plan to do a rewrite, and we picked a writer to work on it. And then the writers’ strike happened so that delayed things. Right now that’s still inactive, so I think the plan with that one will be that writer will continue working, and whenever that draft is done, Simon and I will get it back and we’ll take another crack at it.”

So, it sounds like that one is a little bit father out. When previously talking about ThunderCats, writer Simon Barret:

"I will say this, our ThunderCats adaptation is going to be really, really cool. I don't think people are at all prepared for how long Adam Wingard has spent thinking about ThunderCats. They are not ready for Adam's ThunderCats movie. It is going to destroy."

Wingard previously opened up about the project and talked about the long road he’s been on trying to make it happen, saying:

“Thundercats is a dream project for me. When I was in high school, I was obsessed with it. You’d think at that point, I was a little too old, that my years of obsession with Thundercats would be when I was six years old. My real obsession with Thundercats came in high school, the pinnacle of me deciding I wanted to be a filmmaker, and pushing in that direction…I actually spent most of my 10th grade year, I completely blew it. I didn’t pay attention in school, made terrible grades. And the reason? I was writing my Thundercats screenplay through my entire tenth grade year. And I was hand writing it.”

He went on to explain what he is looking to do with the film, sharing:

“This is a huge passion thing for me. Nobody on this planet knows or has thought as much about Thundercats as I have. They gave me the reins. I saw this as an opportunity to do a new type of fantasy sci-fi spectacle film that people have never seen before. It’s got a rich mythology; the characters are fantastic. The colors. I want to do a Thundercats film that takes you back to that ‘80s aesthetic. I don’t want to reinvent the way they look; I want them to look like Thundercats. I don’t want to do it live action, either. I don’t want it to look like Cats, I don’t want those kinds of issues, no disrespect to that director whom I don’t mean to throw under the bus any more than everyone else has. I want to do a movie you’ve never seen before. A hybrid CGI film that has a hyper real look and somehow bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI. That’s the starting point, and Simon Barrett and I are getting into the script now.”

While I haven’t liked what Wingard has done with Godzilla and Kong, if he actually does get the opportunity to bring ThunderCats to life on the big screen, I hope that he delivers a film that the fans will love. Wingard and Barret also previously worked together on You're Next, The Guest, and Blair Witch.

Do you think they will deliver a great ThunderCats movie?