Producer Mark Gordon (The Day After Tomorrow) is developing a big-budget feature based on Voltron: Defender of the Universe, a 1980s Japanese animated series about a team of pilots whose individual ships combine to form a giant robot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The film will follow the team as they travel to the planet Arus to learn how to operate Voltron, the last hope against the evil Drule Empire that has subjugated Earth and taken control of the universe, the trade paper reported. The film will be produced by New Line Cinema's Mark Costa and Ford Oelman, who secured the rights from Voltron owner World Events. Pharrell Williams, a partner in the producing duo the Neptunes, will score the film and produce the soundtrack.The Voltron series debuted in 1984, about the same time as Hasbro's Transformers toy line, igniting a morphing robot phenomenon. Voltron has generated $750 million in worldwide licensing and nearly $200 million in toys and merchandising since 1984, the trade paper reported. A Transformers film is also in development at DreamWorks.
