Former Man of Steel and Witcher Henry Cavill is all set to play a key role in the long-awaited live-action adaptation of the beloved 80s sci-fi action animated series, Voltron. Unfortunately, despite the long wait, Amazon has now offered a seriously disappointing — and frankly quite shocking — new update regarding the movie’s release.
As part of Amazon MGM Studios’ update regarding their upcoming slate, the live-action Voltron movie will adapt the Voltron: Defender of the Universe animated series from 1984. After a series of delays, and having been in development since as far back as 2005, the Voltron movie is directed by Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Red Notice’s Rawson Marshall Thurber, and will follow a group of teenagers who find themselves suddenly transported from Earth and thrown into the middle of an intergalactic war. Taking control of giant robotic lions, the group must work out how to fight as one so they can unite and bring forth the mighty warrior known as Voltron.
Boasting a cast that includes Henry Cavill alongside Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora, John Harlan Kim, Alba Baptista, Samson Kayo, Tharanya Tharan, Laura Gordon, Tim Griffin, Nathan Jones, and Daniel Quinn-Toye as the movie’s lead, as well as promising epic action sequences that should be seen on the biggest screen possible, it may come as a surprise to learn that it’s now been confirmed Voltron will skip theaters entirely in favor of a straight-to-streaming release on Prime Video.
In the Voltron live-action remake, Henry Cavill will reportedly star as the legendary warrior and former ruler of planet Altea, King Alfur, with Sterling K. Brown flexing his villainous muscles as Zarkon, the movie’s primary antagonist and Alfur’s nemesis. Anyone familiar with the source material will be fully aware of the epic scope of the series, as intergalactic war wages across the galaxy, with giant mecha throwing down among the stars and on the ground, where plenty of buildings are leveled in spectacular fashion.
Behind-the-scenes insights have also revealed that, forgoing too much CGI, production instead built a giant rig known as the “Lion’s Den,” which throws the actors around as if in giant robot combat while seamlessly filming their reactions. All this makes the straight-to-streaming release both surprising and frustrating and will quickly ignite discussions over whether the release strategy speaks to the movie’s quality.
Taking to X, disappointed reactions have already begun to pour in, with users calling the decision “genuinely disappointing” after the movie felt like it had “real theatrical potential….A massive sci-fi spectacle that could’ve brought audiences together on the big screen.” Others have called the move a “serious mistake,” declared “this hurts,” and speculated “so it sucks.” Only time will tell whether skipping theaters has come in response to Voltron’s quality, but at least the likes of Cavill’s other 80s reboot, Highlander, is still set for the big screen, while next month’s Masters of the Universe will demonstrate how much of an appetite for 80s live-action remakes there really is.
- Birthdate
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May 5, 1983
- Birthplace
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Jersey, Channel Islands
- Birthname
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Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
