While his mind is currently preparing ways to make sure Tom Cruise doesn’t do himself an injury while tackling stunts on Mission: Impossible 5, Christopher McQuarrie is not neglecting other directing work. While he’s been attached to adapt Japanese anime conversion Star Blazers since Skydance Productions picked up the rights in 2011, he’s now stepped up to direct it as well.
Star Blazers, the show, appeared back in the 1970s and itself was an adaptation of the Japanese series Space Battleship Yamato series, with the usual editing and dubbing.
Considered to be one of the first truly popular crossovers from anime, the series took place on a badly polluted Earth with the human race staring extinction in the face within a year. A mysterious alien race offers them the plans to build an engine that can make their ships travel faster than ever before and a challenge that if they can reach the planet Iscandar, fighting all opposition in their way, they’ll be given the secret to saving the planet. Assuming they can get back in time, that is…
Studios and filmmakers have been trying to figure out how to adapt this one for ages. Disney gave it a shot in the 1990s and Benderspink Productions had the rights in 2006. An animated movie based on the original Space Battleship Yamamoto arrived in 2011, and came out on disc over here. Perhaps McQuarrie is the man to finally make it work on the big screen.
If all this talk of 1970s ‘toons has you pining for the shows you watched as a child (even if you weren’t around in the 1970s, you disgraceful spring chicken, you), you might be interested in our new feature about classic kids’ shows…