# Voltron (film)

Voltron is an upcoming American science fiction action film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber from a script co-written with Ellen Shanman. The film is a live-action adaptation of the 1980s animated television series Voltron and is produced by Thurber, Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, and Bob Koplar for Amazon MGM Studios. It stars newcomer Daniel Quinn-Toye in his feature film debut, alongside Henry Cavill, Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora, John Harlan Kim, Alba Baptista, and Samson Kayo.

## Premise

Five piloted Robot Lions can combine to form the ultimate humanoid robot, Voltron, to battle evil. According to director Rawson Marshall Thurber, the film will "stay true to the heart and the spirit of Voltron" while "introducing an entirely new generation of pilots," reimagining the franchise in live-action.

## Cast

* Daniel Quinn-Toye
* Henry Cavill
* Sterling K. Brown
* Rita Ora
* John Harlan Kim
* Alba Baptista
* Samson Kayo
* Tharanya Tharan
* Laura Gordon
* Tim Griffin
* Nathan Jones
* Keanu Karim
* Kevin Spink

## Production
### Background

Based on the Japanese animated series Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV, World Events Productions created a re-edited, dubbed version for an American audience titled Voltron: Defender of the Universe, which ran in syndication for three seasons from 1984 to 1985. The premise of that series centered around five young pilots in the Robot Lions battalion who join together to form the mega-robot Voltron. It was followed by numerous American series (including the eight-season Netflix series Voltron: Legendary Defender), comic books, and a line of toys.

### Previous attempts

In July 2005, producer Mark Gordon, together with Ted Koplar, announced plans to create a live-action film adaptation of the Voltron franchise in collaboration with producers Mark Costa and Ford Oelman. Pharrell Williams was also reportedly attached to compose the musical score for the film. The project's development was funded by Jim Young's Animus Films.
In August 2007, New Regency entered negotiations with World Events Productions and The Mark Gordon Company to adapt Voltron, with Justin Marks writing a new script. Interest in the property heightened after the box office success of Transformers (2007), another film involving shape-changing robots. Marks' script was described as "a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City...[in which] five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders." But at that time, Ted Koplar, through World Events Productions, was fighting a legal battle with Toei Company Ltd. over the movie rights.
On August 17, 2008, Relativity Media entered negotiations with New Regency to finance and produce the film, at the time titled Voltron: Defender of the Universe, though on a more moderate budget. In 2009, World Events partnered with Atlas Entertainment to develop and secure financing for the film, with Chuck Roven, Richard Suckle, Steve Alexander, and Jason Netter to produce. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer entered into collaboration on writing the script, and on September 16, 2010, concept art for the movie was released.
In 2011, Relativity Media entered into an option agreement with Atlas and World Events to finance and produce the film, but the option later expired, and in 2015, Relativity filed for bankruptcy. World Events subsequently granted an option to produce the feature film to DreamWorks Animation, with whom it had partnered with for the animated series Voltron: Legendary Defender. On November 4, 2016, three months after the completion of NBCUniversal's acquisition of Classic Media's parent company, DreamWorks Animation, for $3.8 billion, it was announced that Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation would make the film with David Hayter writing the script, but that option later expired as well.

### Development

In March 2022, it was announced that a live-action adaptation was officially back in development, based on a story by Rawson Marshall Thurber. Thurber planned to direct and co-write the screenplay with Ellen Shanman, and Thurber, Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, and Bob Koplar would produce. In April 2022, Amazon MGM Studios announced that it was in negotiations for the distribution rights of the film. In October 2024, newcomer Daniel Quinn-Toye was cast in the lead role, alongside Henry Cavill. In November 2024, Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora, John Harlan Kim, Alba Baptista, Samson Kayo, Tharanya Tharan, Laura Gordon, and Tim Griffin joined the cast. In December 2024, Nathan Jones was also cast, and Keanu Karim and Kevin Spink were cast in January 2025.

### Filming

Principal photography began in December 2024, in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, at Village Roadshow Studios, under the working title Space Mouse.