Commercial Director Nic Mathieu In Talks To Make 'Robotech' At Warner Bros.

It was only a couple weeks ago that a trailer for fan-made Robotech movie cropped up online. At the time, we mentioned that Warner Bros. had been developing a live-action adaptation of Robotech for a while, but things had been quiet on that front for many months.

While it may seem that interest in the fan film that spurred WB back to action with an adaptation of the fan-favorite anime series, in fact the studio has been chugging along with the property for a while, and trying to hire a director since last fall. And now commercial director Nic Mathieu is now in talks to make the film.

THR reports that WB has been working on setting a director since late last year. Mathieu, who was already signed to make the David Koepp-scripted The Wind for the studio, evidently made his case well. (I wonder what kind of reel he used, and if we might end up seeing that sooner rather than later.)Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Lawrence Kasdan have all worked on scripts for Robotech over the past few years, but we don't know what draft is in play now. More than likely, a new writer will come on board to work on the property.

The Robotech series broadcast in the US was in fact a re-edit of three different Japanese TV series, with each of the three series representing a generation in the fight between humans and aliens. Presumably the film will adapt the Macross Saga, which was the first chunk of the show. It goes as follows:

The Macross Saga begins with humanity's discovery of a crashed alien ship and subsequent battle against a race of giant warriors called the Zentraedi, who have been sent to retrieve the ship for reasons unknown. In the course of this chapter, Earth is nearly annihilated, the Zentraedi are defeated, and humans gain knowledge of the energy source called protoculture. Humanity also learns of the Robotech Masters whose galactic empire the Zentraedi protected and patrolled.

Here's the commercial that probably best points to the reason(s) WB tapped Mathieu for Robotech. Another of his spots, 'Turbulence,' for Cadillac, follows that, and you can see more of his work at Anonyous Content. (Warning: autoplay videos start at that link.)