Live-Action Movie

A live-action Voltron film has been churning through Hollywood for more than a decade. This page tracks the status and news updates.

Current status: Amazon MGM Studios will release the film which now in filming.

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 Super Soldier!
• Keanu Karim
• Kevin Spink
• Chris Evans
• Roberto Zenca Galran Emperor
• Becki Cross Trujillo
• Matthew Scully Galran Officer
• Giovanni Adams

News (Newest First)

• May 2025

• Filming wrapped on May 24, 2025.
• Myriad Studios, Odd Studio, Halon Entertainment, and Industrial Lights and Magic are visual effects companies.
• Cantina Creative based on one member of visual effects department is a supervisor from that company. Myriad studio, ILM, and Odd studio is in IMDb Company credits database.

Jan 2025

• In January 2025, Keanu Karim and Kevin Spink joined the cast, under the working title Space Mouse.

Dec 2024

• In December 2024, Principal photography began, in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia using the Village Roadshow Studios, Nathan Jones joined the cast.

Nov 2024

• 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.

Oct 2024

• Newcomer Daniel Quinn-Toye was cast in the lead role, alongside Henry Cavill.

Apr 2022

• Amazon MGM Studios announced that it was in negotiations for the distribution rights of the film.

Mar 2022

• It was announced that the live-action film was officially back in development. Rawson Marshall Thurber had created a story that was pitched to studios for further development. Thurber planned to direct as well and co-write the full screenplay with Ellen Shanman, and Todd Lieberman, David Hoberman, and Bob Koplar would produce.

Nov 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 will make the film with David Hayter writing the script.

July 2015

• Atlas Entertainment and Relativity Media announced they would bring Voltron: Defender of the Universe to the big screen.
• Relativity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York after lawsuits and missing loan payments, and the film rights reverted to Classic Media.

Aug 2011

• Looks like the writing duo of Josh Oppenheimer & Thomas Dean Donnelly are working on the story and/or screenplay in some capacity.

July 2011

• SDCC panel says no director or release date yet.
• A story at Variety gives new firm details:
  • Relativity Media (studio) and Atlas Entertainment (production company)
  • Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write
  • Charles Roven and Richard Suckle (Atlas) and Jason Netter (Kickstart Entertainment) to produce
  • Ted Koplar of WEP as executive producer

March 2011

• Vulture reports that a bidding war has broken out over the rights for Voltron. Previous rights-holder Relativity Media is supposedly interested again (would that mean Justin Marks' script is in play again?). Does this mean Atlas Entertainment is out?

July 2009

• Producers Charles Roven, Richard Suckle and Steve Alexander have acquired the rights for Atlas Entertainment. It's likely that the scriptwriter Justin Marks and director Max Makowski will no longer be involved, and Marks' finished script will not be used.

August 2008

• The title has been set as "Voltron: Defender of the Universe". Relativity Media entered negotiations with New Regency to finance and produce the film, though on a more moderate budget, utilizing cost-saving CGI techniques such as those used in 300.

• Relativity Media acquired the rights from 20th Century Fox. Max Makowski is slated to direct.

August 2007

• The production entity New Regency entered negotiations with Mark Gordon Co. to adapt Voltron. Interest in the property heightened after the box office success of Transformers, another film involving robots. Marks's 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."

June 2007

• Latino Review claims to have a copy of the script (draft date: 05/23/07), and the reviewer gave it an "A+".

October 2006

• Justin Marks completed a script for producer Mark Gordon.

July 2005

• In July 2005, producer Mark Gordon announced a collaboration with producer Pharrell Williams as well as producers Mark Costa and Frank Oelman to make a live-action film adaptation of the franchise. Pharrell Williams was also reported to score the film.