Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora and John Kim Among New Additions to ‘Voltron’
Rawson Marshall Thurber is directing the adaptation of the animated series, with Henry Cavill already aboard to lead the cast.
(Left) Sterling K. Brown stars as Cliff Ellison in writer/director Cord Jefferson’s 'American Fiction,' an Orion Pictures Release. Photo credit: Claire Folger. © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved. (Right) Rita Ora in 'Rita Ora at the Eiffel Tower'. Photo: Concert NRJ.
Preview:
- Sterling K. Brown and Rita Ora are among the new cast for ‘Voltron.’
- Henry Cavill is aboard to star.
- ‘Red Notice’ director Rawson Marshall Thurber will oversee the new movie.
When we learned way back in 2022 that Rawson Marshall Thurber –– who has made movies such as ‘Red Notice,’ ‘Skyscraper,’ ‘Central Intelligence’ and ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’ –– was developing a live-action take on anime stalwart ‘Voltron’, we’re not sure we foresaw it taking quite this long to come together.
Still, a couple of years is, we suppose, not all that bad given that some movies take decades to finally reach screens.
Thurber is now boosting the cast for the new film, with Sterling K. Brown, musician/actor Rita Ora and John Kim stepping aboard.
All being well, Thurber should have the cameras rolling this month in Australia.
What’s the story of ‘Voltron’?
'Voltron: Legendary Defender.' Photo: Netflix.
‘Voltron’ has its roots in the Japanese sci-fi series ‘Beast King GoLion’ and ‘Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV’.
American production World Events bought the rights for the States, then edited and dubbed the series as a syndicated show, titling it ‘Voltron: Defender of the Universe’, which ran in the mid-1980s.
The premise focused on five young pilots in a battalion named the Robot Lions, which are vehicles that merge to form a mega robot known as Voltron and take on a variety of enemies.
The show in animated form has already been rebooted twice, once for the NickToon channel in 2011, while the current version is on Netflix.
It's a compelling concept (one that has been referenced and parodied endlessly since its heyday) and a-live action version has been in development at different terms since the early 2000s.
The plot for the new movie, which Thurber wrote with Ellen Shanman, is a mystery for now, but we can expect a fair amount of giant robot combat.
This is what Thurber told fans at a ‘Voltron’ convention this past October:
“I want to make sure that we stay true to the heart and the spirit of ‘Voltron.’ In this film, we’re going to be introducing an entirely new generation of pilots. We’ve reimagined ‘Voltron’ for the live-action world, but we’re going to stay true to those iconic elements that you love, that I love.”
Who else will appear in ‘Voltron’?
Henry Cavill in 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare'. Photo: Daniel Smith.
The new recruits join Henry Cavill, who was cast in October, and Daniel Quinn-Toye, a relative newcomer whose previous screen credit was a tiny role in a BBC sitcom called ‘Badults’ that ran in 2013 and 2014.
But Quinn-Toye has one other job that caught the eye of Thurber and Amazon MGM studios: the 21-year old actor, who attended London’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts as well as the Dance School of Scotland, was the understudy to Tom Holland in the ‘Spider-Man’ actor’s big return to the theater world this past spring in the West End production of ‘Romeo & Juliet.’ He also had small roles in the play itself.
Related Article: Henry Cavill Will Star in the ‘Voltron’ Movie for Director Rawson Marshall Thurber
What else are Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora and John Kim working on?
Oscar® nominee Sterling K. Brown arrives on the red carpet of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Credit/Provider: Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
Brown, who was most recently seen in ‘American Fiction’ (for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination) and Netflix sci-fi thriller ‘Atlas’, is starring in and executive producing Hulu drama series ‘Paradise,’ created by Dan Fogelman, who helped Brown break out in ‘This is Us.’
The actor is due to begin production on Elegance Bratton’s ‘By Any Means’ opposite Mark Wahlberg, and recently wrapped production on Hulu’s limited series ‘Washington Black.’
While Ora is best known for her successful music career, she is increasingly taking acting and hosting jobs, and was last seen in Disney’s ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ (and is in the cast for the fifth outing of the popular franchise).
She’s also recently worked on the movies ‘Tin Soldier’ and ‘He Bled Neon.’
Australian actor Kim already has a connection to an Amazon production, since he was in the cast for Prime Video’s ‘Cruel Intentions,’ the television reimagining of the 1999 cult teen movie classic.
When will ‘Voltron’ be on screens?
Amazon MGM Studios has yet to confirm a release date for the movie. Given the likely post-production/effects workload, 2026 would be a more sensible target given that production is only now about to kick off.
'Voltron: Legendary Defender.' Photo: Netflix.
Other Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Voltron’ Franchise:
- ‘Voltron: Fleet of Doom' (1986)
- 'Voltron: The Third Dimension' (1998 - 2000)
- ‘Voltron Force' (2011 - 2012)
- 'Voltron: Legendary Defender' (2016 - 2018)
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