Kasdan to write screenplay for big-screen "Robotech"

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has been hired to write "Robotech," Warner Bros.' adaptation of the anime classic.

"Robotech" was a 1980s cartoon series from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Prods. It was re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series to give the producers enough episodes to air as a daily syndicated series.

A sprawling sci-fi epic, "Robotech" takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off three successive waves of alien invasions.

"Robotech" extends Kasdan's return to the fantasy genre that began in 2007, when he was tapped to pen the "Clash of the Titans" remake for Warners and Thunder Road.

Kasdan wrote the screenplays for "The Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" before penning more intimate ensemble dramas such as "The Big Chill" and "Grand Canyon," which he also directed.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter