Movie News
5 Reasons Why a ‘Thundercats’ Movie is a Must
Posted by Paige MacGregor (paige@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 18, 2007
In early June of this year, Variety reported that Warner Bros. studios is currently working on a live-action CGI movie based on the popular 80’s cartoon television series Thundercats in conjunction with producer Paula Weinstein (who most recently produced The Astronaut Farmer and Blood Diamond), action animators Dick Robertson and Lew Korman, and writer Paul Sopocy. Thundercats fans know, however, that this is not the first time a major motion picture studio has dangled the promise of a Thundercats movie in front of adoring fans—originally the live-action version of this popular cartoon was set for release in 1998, nearly a decade ago, a date that was repeatedly put off before the project was scrapped altogether.
But in this new age of films born of the cartoons and comic books of old, what would be more perfect than a CGI-rich action film about a group of humanoid cats from the planet Thundera (come on… just picture a bewhiskered Kate Beckinsale in yet another skintight bodysuit and wielding a battlestaff… exactly)? So, here are the top five reasons (there would be ten, but then this article would just be way, way too long) why following-through, finally, with the production and release of a Thundercats movie is a MUST:
1. There is no way, under any circumstances, that the Thundercats movie could possibly be worse than X2 or X-Men: The Last Stand.
It would take a considerable deal of effort to surpass the combination of horrid acting, poor casting, lack of chemistry and deviation from the comic book stories that attempted to masquerade as the final two chapters in the X-Men saga that began with director Bryan Singer’s groundbreaking X-Men (2000)… And with the potential earning power of a Thundercats movie on the line, I just don’t think Warner Bros. has it in them to screw this movie up to that degree (and I know I’m going to get flack for saying this, but at least they didn’t put it in the hands of Michael Bay).
2. We have the CGI technology to pull this off. It’s really as simple as that.
Realistically turning Kate Beckinsale into Cheetarah, or even making Jake Gyllenhaal into the orange and white, emotionally conflicted leader of the Thundercats, Lion-O, is far from difficult. Just look at movies like 300 and Transformers if you want to see what Hollywood’s CGI capabilities look like now, and then tell me that we can’t make a few people look like giant furry, medieval-weapons-weilding cats? While it may very well have been the technology that stalled and ultimately prevented the release of a Thundercats movie back in the late 1990s, that certainly shouldn’t be a problem today.
3. Timing.
With a tentative release date of 2010, Thundercats will ride the coattails of the great comic-book- and 80s-cartoon-inspired movie wave, following in the footsteps of current releases like Transformers, as well as movies like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Sin City 2, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and The Dark Knight, all set for released in 2008, as well as Spider-Man 4, Superman: Man of Steel and He-Man: Masters of the Universe, which are slated for release in 2009.
Appearing in theaters in 2010, the Thundercats movie will be able not only to capitalize on its preexisting adult fan base, the result of the cartoon’s popularity with children of the 1980s, but will be able to do so without coming too close on the heels of other cinematic adaptations of comic books and cartoons while simultaneously benefiting from this preexisting trend.
4. The choice is no longer in Warner Bros.’ hands.
Since I have taken it upon myself to cast all of the important characters, the studio now has no choice but to go ahead and produce the film. As I already mentioned, Kate Beckinsale as Cheetarah and Jake Gyllenhaal as Lion-O, and then Vinnie Jones (Gone in 60 Seconds, X-Men: The Last Stand) as Panthro, Freddie Rodriguez (Grindhouse) as Tygra, and as for the twins, Wiley-Kit and Wiley-Kat, the boy who plays Leonidas’ son in 300 and another unknown child actor as his female counterpart. As for Mummra, the disturbing but nevertheless necessary villain, Ed Harris would have to step in as both the old, wrinkled and bandaged mummified version and the crazy, bat-like, ultra-jacked version. And now that I’ve cast virtually every important character in the movie, Warner Bros. really has no reason not to finish this movie by the 2010 deadline. Hell, I’ll even give them until 2011, if it helps… and I’m not a patient person.
5. A Thundercats movie would fucking rock. Period.
This reason is pretty self explanatory, and after everything else I’ve already said it may seem a bit redundant, but honestly I think that it’s virtually impossible to overstress the degree to which this movie just needs to be made. Who wouldn’t love to watch giant humanoid cats running around with medieval weapons (can you say swords, nun chucks, maces… and if that isn’t enough, a sick Land Rover-esque vehicle that can tear through just about anything) and kicking the ass of an ancient crazy mummy bent on their destruction?
What do you think?
Read more articles by Paige MacGregor
53 Comments
August 17th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Apart from Transformers this is the movie that I have been waiting for and you are right, there is no reason that this movie can’t be made. I would replace your pick of Vinnie with Michael Clarke Duncan as panthro, but other than that I think you are spot on.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Thundercats are the the lamest cartoon from the 1980s, perhaps the all-time worst.
They mightily suxors. Even more than the Smurfs.
August 18th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
See, I said the exact same thing.
MCD would make a good Panthro.
August 19th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Che:
You commie bastard. How dare you say that about Thundercats. I’m glad they assassinated your hairy ass.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I personally think Christopher Judge would make a wonderful Panthro.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Amusing:
Teal’c would be too badass for Panthro. Or perhaps not.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Hehe I watched it on cartoon network when I was like 6. But I was instantly in awe when basking in its greatness.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
What about Snarf?
August 19th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
The Family Guy movie ruined Thundercats for me…it’ll never be the same again
August 19th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
MCD as Panthro
Jessica Beil as Cheetara
Benicio Del Toro as Tigris
Can’t figure out the perfect lion O. I guess Jake will suffice.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Jessica Beil has a DONKEY. That ass is serious. She’s more muscular.
I like Kate Beckinsale, just because.. she was hot in underworld and I know what she’ll look like in spandex.
MCD = Panthro.
Benicio? Really? hmm I’d not thought of that. Lion-O has to be.. barely pubescent.. he almost was spiderman.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
What about the villains? Ron Pearlman as Monkian? Um … Danny Devito as Slythe? hahaha … who else would work? Colin Farell would work as a Lion-o as well. I don’t know who else. OH! Jean-Claude Van Dam as Lion-O! Or not.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I love Thundercats, but I gotta tell you: those are some really, really poor casting ideas.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
thundercats are lame. they were lame in the eighties and a movie now won’t make them cool.
August 19th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
those are some of the worst casting I’ve ever read… Jake Gyllenhall as Lion-O. WTF. I don’t have anyone in mind right now but definitely not him.
And X2 was awesome. Outside of your personal taste, I can’t believe you would even put that film in the same sentence as X3, which was at Catwoman/Punisher level.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
When was the last time somebody actually sat down and watched the series? It’s more nostalgiac novelty than actually good.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
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August 19th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Look I agree that this would be a great movie to see made. I do. However I agree with Che Guevara.
The idea was solid, the voice acting and script though… HORRID.
I watched a few episodes not so long ago and it destroyed my childhood memory.
I guess another reason this movie could be made is there is no way the movie could ever be as bad as the original was.
“I must… reach… this branch…. or I will never escape…. this… quicksand.”
August 19th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Is…is this supposed to be satire?
August 19th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
fuckin lame.
I want them to make an ALF movie in 3D and ALF can be played by John Malcovich.
August 19th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
This is quite possibly the best idea I’ve ever heard.
August 19th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Vin Diesel as panthro would be cooler
August 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
I bought the DVD box set of the first series at the weekend and have been busily brainwashing the kids into watching it. It isn’t proving difficult, they’re lapping it up.
We’ll be heading along to the cinema in 2010 then!
August 19th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder cats HO!
seriously ive got the hair of lion o and with a bit of training the physique will come along so if anyone wants alive action lead star then call on me.
mark
August 19th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
The press release from Warner Brothers explicitly states that they are developing an animated feature (presumably CGI), not a live action/CGI film.
Sorry to burst your bubbles.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
X-Men 2 is the best of the 3 x-men movies you crazy bastard.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
The idea of a Thundercats movie is, in my opinion, a terrible idea. Consider the premise for a few moments and try and consider how that can possibly translate to a coherent film. The reason that childhood cartoons don’t make good films is because guess what….they are made for kids. Kids don’t care if the makers of the show were picking nouns like cat and sword out of a hat, they’ll go for anything. Why don’t we instead focus on some more worthwhile source material or imagine this, something completely original. What a thought.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
i don’t dislike thundercats… but as a feature film- it just feels stupid.
@Paige: don’t underestimate Hollywood. They have the ability to make anything suck.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
dude, u suck at casting. with the exception of Kate Beckinsale (mmmmm), but even she can easily be replaced by one of the jessicas. seriously, vinnie jones? i’m not calling anyone a racist, but everyone knows that panthro is really a black guy. i wouldn’t see the movie if panthro had a brittish accent. i would say ving rhames.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I fully agree with Che. Although I watched it everyday as a kid, watching it on DVD last year made me cry.
I doubt if anyone here claiming it’s such a great cartoon as actually re-watched any of the old episodes. Cheese, combined with bad dialogue and even worse voice acting = well, more cheese I guess.
August 20th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Last year Here in Cordoba Argentina, on a cinema they played the whole serie and it was really great to see that many people going stoned now to enjoy them, i think a movie could be fine, but cartoons
August 20th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Ving Rhames as Panthro.
All movies made from children’s cartoons have a strong chance of being horrible. If hollywood doesn’t try to cash in on a quick buck and takes the time to write the movie for its target audience, which would now be adults you very well could come out with an awesome film. Forget trying to cash in on a whole new generation of fans make it for the original fans. It should be rated R and be so much more than Transformers was.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:36 am
i will now point u poor helpless souls to the 10 reasons this movie should never be made. KTHXBAI!!!!
August 21st, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Xzbit of Pimp My Ride as Panthro. Can’t you see him pimpin’ out the Thundertank?
August 21st, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Vinnie Jones as Panthro? are you kidding me? Sorry, his accent is too harsh. We need someone more to the liking of the cartoon. intelligent with some foresight.
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:16 am
Definitely could work as a full motion feature film. Studio would have to get Tarantino to produce/direct this film. Make it a seriously dark, warped version of what was a cool premise. Give Lion-O some serious claws and fangs to go with his sword. Have at least 100 F-Bomb’s in there. Give Mumm-Ra some guns.
Lion-O = Tom Brady (not an actor but a born leader), or Mickey Rourke
Cheetara = Keira Knightley (tall enough to pull off action +smoking hottie)
Panthro = Ving Rhames/Michael Clarke Duncan are interchangeable (as usual)
Snarf = 100% CGI - Voiced by Seth Green-
Mumm-Ra = Geoffrey Rush (CGI Villain from PotC: Davey Jones)
Old Spirit Guy = Chrisopher Lee ( Saurumon from LotR )
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Do you realise that Thundercats have a LIMITED enemy? imho, just put Gambit in the next X-Men movie and ta-da, perfect again.
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I think Wesley Snipes will do a great panthro
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
You lost me when you dissed X2, which is far, far better than any movie based on Thundercats could hope to be.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:24 am
Hahaha Wesley Snipes owns. I don’t think he’d be good for the part though. Need someone with a really giant chest lol. I’m thinking that one guy uhhh…He was the mcdonalds guy in The Longest Yard, and the guy that hit on the people in White Chicks lol.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:41 am
A Thundercats movie? The cartoon was good, but I can just imagine how shitty the movie will be.
What will be next, Gummi Bears the Movie? (Remember those fat bears that drank the Gummi juice.)
September 5th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
With all the movies being made today, Thundercats could truly be one to bring them into the seats. Of course it would have to be released in the summer to have the best effect. Yeah we know as kids it was great and could come off as cheesy, but thats when you go in and tweak things a bit. The casting you put out was….wtf?
Cheetara-Kate Beckingsale/Jessica Biel-check (Kierra Knightly is to skinny. Cheetara was athletic)
Panthro-Tyrese/Vin Diesel/Rock-check (love Michael Clark Duncan and Ving Rhames but they are tooo big) besides everybody knows that Panthro was Black…who is Vinnie Jones anyway?
Lion-O-Christian Bale(Batman Begins)/Brendan Roth(Superman Guy)-check (Jake just isn’t giving me that “umph”)
Mumra-Victor from Underwolrd-Perfect! (he has the voice)
Cole from Charmed/Nip Tuck-when Mumra changes
Wiley Kit-Agree with the son of Leonidus
Wiley Kat-The girl that played Violet from Lemony snickets
Tygra-Agree with Rodgriguez
Schnarf-completely CGI
September 18th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Luke said:
“What will be next, Gummi Bears the Movie? (Remember those fat bears that drank the Gummi juice.)”
Er…
September 18th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Hm. Link didn’t work. 2nd try…
September 30th, 2007 at 1:13 am
no no no..dont people ever learn? thundercats would be utter crap as a film,cgi nonsense and the studio would change it so much it would be nothing like the original cartoon.have u ever heard of transformers? what did they do to that i ask u? ruin it..thats what,and thats exactly what would happen to this.leave it alone.
an anime film would be much better and they could make it more adult based too,like the street fighter,pitch black,turtles and van helsing flicks,shame about the hellboy efforts.
also..yr choices of casting amuse me…most of u have no clue do u hahaha
snarf as total cgi…there u go,need i say more..cgi rubbish.
vin diesel or snipes as panthro are the best choices there..remember the thundecats were cats ie.very fit and athletic….MCD and ving rhames sure as hell are not that haha
its a flop right now even before its made….come on think about it,use some brains and look at previous cgi rubbish that the studios churn out.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:53 am
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October 25th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
I also have been waiting for this movie. If they can reanimate Under Dog, the Thunder Cats would be a shoe-in. Although, I don’t feel that your selection for Lion-O is a good choice. Lion-O was buff and strong; either The Roc, Vinn Diesal, or Dolph Lundgren. The other characters are good, but the main characters are very important.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
O My God… Two years. Two Freakin years I’ll have to wait. NOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I am absolutely DYING to watch this movie! I hope that it’s being made by true fans of the cartoon who capture and portray what really made the cartoon o so special to us, not some overly ambitious monstrosity filled with nothing but cool stunts and explosions (they completely RUINED Transformers for me! All it was was BOOM! BLAM! KABAM!!… yech) You’re making us wait two years… PLEASE don’t let us down!
N i’m sorry i don’t quite agree about Jake Gyllenhall as Lion O. I have no doubt that under the right circumstances he can impress us all, but i always pictured someone more… well with more machismo, head-strong and well frankly with a deeper voice! Someone like… well feel free to fill in the blanks. Hopefully since the whole thing is CGI and not Live Animation they wont have to base it on an actor(but that would be asking for too much huh) All i DO know for sure is Larry Kenney BETTER do the voice of Lion-O!!!!!! We love you Larry! You ARE the voice of the Thundercats! Thundercats Ho!!! :)
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 am
It’s great that they are making the movie. I watched the series again last month and I still loved it and it brought back so many memories.
I think Samual L. Jackson should be Panthro. I could just imagine him saying “These mother-funking mutants on this mother-funkin’ thundertank” LOL
February 19th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Thundercats rocks all you haters
March 12th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
You guys need help with the casting. Here it is:
Lion-0- Matthew MacConaghey (I know its spelled wrong) I really dont like the dude to much as an actor, but for the look he is it and he could pull it off well.
Panthro- Michael Clarke Duncan or even Wesley (Badass) Snipes
Cheetarah- Kate Beckensale
Tigra- Jake Gyllenhal ( another mistakenly spelled name)
Mumm-ra- Don’t know the name of the guy, but this year supporting actor winner at the Oscar’s for “No Country for Old Men.”
If that aint the best casting you have ever heard you on crack.
March 16th, 2008 at 3:42 am
DO NOT USE JAKE AS LION-O!!!! THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA!!! HE IS TOO SMALL FOR ONE AND
WOULD TOTALLY NOT FIT THE CHARACTER!!!!
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
The cast of Thunderacats should be Mathew McConnaughey as Liono Ed Harris as Mumm-Ra Tea Leoni as Cheetara Wesley Snipes as Panthro David Carradine as Tigra and Gary Coleman as Snarf dont know about the 2 kids
check this site for 1999 thundercats movie poster
http://www.brutesquad.com/Movies/Thundercats/index_noframe.htm