'Voltron': Henry Cavill's live-action film receives another disappointing update after long wait
'The Witcher' star Henry Cavill is gearing up to play an important role in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the famous 1980s science fiction animated series 'Voltron.' Fans of the franchise have been eagerly awaiting any news about the upcoming adaptation. However, in a disappointing turn of events, Amazon MGM Studios has now confirmed that the live-action 'Voltron' adaptation will, in all likelihood, skip the theatrical release and head straight to streaming on Prime Video. This has come as a shocking development to most fans, who believed that the high-octane conflicts and the intergalactic scope of the subject matter would play out best on the big screen.
The news first appeared online on DiscussingFilm's X page. It has been confirmed that the live-action adaptation will be based on the animated series 'Voltron: Defender of the Universe,' which originally aired back in 1984. The fate of the adaptation has been beset by several difficulties since it was in the pipeline as far back as 2005. Time and again, the development of the 'Voltron' movie has been plagued by delays. Rawson Marshall Thurber, of 'Red Notice' and 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story' fame, will be helming the upcoming project as the director.
In terms of the plot, the 'Voltron' movie will feature a group of teenagers who are surprisingly transported from Earth and thrown into a raging intergalactic war. The group struggles to keep it together, as they must take charge of giant robotic lions and learn to work together as a team. The ultimate goal in sight is to summon the formidable warrior known as Voltron. The film has already assembled an ensemble cast that includes Cavill, reportedly playing the former ruler of planet Altea and the famous warrior, King Alfur. On the other hand, Sterling K. Brown will be seen as Zarkon, the chief antagonist of the narrative and Alfur's arch-nemesis. The rest of the cast includes Rita Ora, Alba Baptista, Samson Kayo, Tharanya Tharan, John Harlan Kim, Tim Griffin, Nathan Jones, and Laura Gordon. The protagonist of the movie will be played by Daniel Quinn-Toy.
The decision to skip the theatrical release of the movie in favor of a streaming platform release wasn't well received by the franchise's fans, many of whom took to the social media platform X to express their views. One user wrote, "I guess they're not optimus about it succeeding in theaters." while another user commented, "Another missed opportunity down the drain...What prime way of doing things?" Meanwhile, a third user opined, "This feels like a big screen movie… kind of surprising it’s going straight to streaming."