With Robotech being such a popular anime back when I was a kid, it's easy to forget that the similarly themed Starblazers beats it out by some six years. Starblazers was the Americanized version of Japan's Space Battleship Yamato, which was first broadcast here in 1979. Lasting for three seasons, the story involved Earth's attempts to avoid extinction by traveling to the planet Iscandar to retrieve a device which would cure the radiation destroying the planet. While attempts to craft a live-action Robotech have mostly crashed and burned, Starblazers has already done it, and appears to be on that path yet again.
Deadline reports that Skydance Productions have secured Christopher McQuarrie(Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects) to pen the script for an American live-action Starblazers film. It will be similar to the anime in that it will be a grand, sweeping space opera. It would almost have to be, as the series was notable for it's multiple character arcs and huge dead space battles with alien races.
Disney actually attempted to secure a live-action film back in the 90s, but it fell apart after Michael Eisner left the company. Josh C. Kline, who will be producing this version along with Skydance, has been attempting to get the film off the ground since 2006.
Odd timing, considering that a Japanese Starblazers film just recently released back in December to some considerable acclaim. It debuted at #1 at the box office, ousting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Don't expect to see it here anytime soon if ever, especially with a competing American version in the works.
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