Rumors are heating up that a 2025 live-action movie based on the hit 1980s animated series ThunderCats is coming out soon.
The original cartoon series followed the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens and was created in a similar vein to Masters of the Universe.
While ThunderCats has been revitalized in several different animated series over the years, the many attempts to make a movie based on the superhero group have failed to get off the ground.
Live-Action ThunderCats Film: Is it Real?
Speculation about a live-action ThunderCats movie coming in 2025 has been heating up lately thanks to some fan-made concepts.
One such trailer on YouTube has received over 1 million views and shows off a cast including Henry Cavill, Alexandra Daddario, Willem Dafoe, and Liam Neeson, in costume as ThunderCats characters.
While fairly convincing, the trailer is fan-made and the creator states they used A.I. to get their concept across.
Another popular Facebook post from Alternate Reality Movies shows some fan-made stills of what a 1985 ThunderCats movie could have looked like in live-action, before joking that the film is impossible to find in this reality.
Will a ThunderCats Movie Ever Happen?
While neither of these concepts are official, the possibility of a ThunderCats movie is not too far from reality.
In 2021, Deadline reported that Godzilla vs Kong director Adam Wingard was attached to direct a ThunderCats movie for Warner Bros. which was being developed by his Death Note producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee.
At the time it was reported that David Coggeshall had written a first draft of the script that would be re-written by Wingard and Simon Barrett.
In a follow-up interview with Deadline, Wingard said he did not envision the movie as being live-action saying:
"I want to do a 'ThunderCats' film that takes you back to that ‘80s aesthetic. I don’t want to reinvent the way they look; I want them to look like ThunderCats. I don’t want to do it live-action, either. I don’t want it to look like Cats, I don’t want those kinds of issues."
Instead, the director said he wants a "hyper-real look" that "bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI."
Wingard last spoke on this back in 2021 but instead of moving into production on the ThunderCats movie, the director returned to the MonsterVerse and went straight into working on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which was released this past March.
During press for Godzilla x Kong, Wingard provided an update to Collider, saying ThunderCats might be his next project and "[they were] actively working on a draft right now, and it's cruising forward."
With Wingard's film still in scripting stages it's far too early to pinpoint a proper release date or any cast members. However, fans should take heart that the film is steadily moving along.
The original ThunderCats series is streaming on Hulu.
Read more about other animated adaptations:
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