ROTTEN TOMATOES: Thundercats Director, Thy Name is O'Flaherty

Thundercats Director, Thy Name is O'Flaherty

Videogame vet calls upon Sword of Omens to give him sight beyond sight.

by Jeff Giles | October 10, 2007

Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats, ho!

That's the cry being heard from Jerry O'Flaherty -- who, as Variety reports, has just been tapped to direct Warner Bros.' CGI Thundercats feature. O'Flaherty's previous filmmaking credits include...well, nothing, really. From the article:

The project marks the first feature directing gig for O'Flaherty, who served as an art director on such bestselling games as "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament 3" for Epic Games and the "Command and Conquer" series from Westwood Studios.

O'Flaherty tells Variety that making the leap "feels like a natural thing," especially given how closely some games have tried to mirror the film experience in recent years. The article goes on to report that the director will work with Thundercats screenwriter Paul Sopocy on a new version of the script.

If you didn't grow up in the '80s or aren't otherwise familiar with the Thundercats, Variety offers the following synopsis, which we realize will sound, to the uninitiated, like nothing so much as the 'shroom-fueled ranting of a lonely college freshman:

The origin story expands on the major heroes and villains from the animated series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats...The property revolves around a group of humanoid cats who must flee the planet of Thundera, which is destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer bent on killing them off.

Please join us in hoping for a "Lion-O's" breakfast cereal tie-in.

Source: Variety

(1-16 of 16 posts) | Reply

dahluzz writes:
on Oct 10 2007 06:09 AM

this is gonna look like that new TMNT movie at best. exactly who's the target market for an animated adventure movie based on a TV show from two decades ago? today's teens are too young to relate on a nastalgic level, and 20-somethings like myself who watched the show don't much care about non-pixar animated fare, especially by a first-time director. thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder WHACK.

(Reply to this)

xenogears writes:
on Oct 10 2007 06:14 AM

Bout DAMN Time! Now the only question is will it be cartoon CGI (Incredibles, TMNT) or will it be realistic CGI (FF Advent Children, Beowulf)?

(Reply to this)

Jasonsnak writes:
on Oct 10 2007 06:15 AM

definatly this is gonna blow. new gen of kids are not gonna get it. growing up watching the orginal on tv was great, and personally this film should be live action. this film should be for the fans of that time period, and not something so choped and changed to the point of making fans loose any interest. id have to see how this film will be styled. if its done in a serious cg manner that of beawolf or something like final fantasy films where the cg is real serious and not really a freakin childs flick.

(Reply to this)

dahluzz writes:
on Oct 10 2007 06:21 AM

dude, it took robert zemeckis, a proven director and cgi pioneer (polar express), years to get to beowulf and get the financial backing to make it look gorgeous. you really think this guy's going to achieve that level on his first outing? beowulf shouldn't even be compared here.

(Reply to this)

blank blank writes:
on Oct 10 2007 07:40 AM

as a 20 something guy myself, i am loving this news item, for three reasons:

1) as a child of the 80s i want them to make every cartoon property into a movie
2) this movie will probably be so embarassingly bad, it might be good
3) on the off chance that its actually a decent movie, i might enjoy it

i actually had a dream last night where i had the sword of omens, and when i yelled "hooooooo!" a bunch of slutty ladies that i know came to my aid. i can say hos on rottentomatoes, right?

(Reply to this)

Vitamin M writes:
on Oct 10 2007 07:55 AM

hoooooooes!
yep you can say it.

(Reply to this)

Rockslide writes:
on Oct 10 2007 08:46 AM

I'll go see this because, like others of you, the nostalgia is enough. I would prefer it to stick as close to source material as possible. They can make this look good on a lower budget, TMNT looked really good for the budget it had. I would prefer a more serious tone and dialogue since Thundercats wasn't exactly a happy go lucky laugh fest.

I can see Lion-O and gang crashing onto Third Earth which is ruled by the merciless Mummra who has enslaved the entire planet. The Thundercats are the only opposition and start a guerilla movement to reclaim the planet's freedom. Many berbils die along the way and snarf sets the dna in play which will later evolve into Jar Jar Binks. Ben-Gali and Pumyra would be cool, but they'll probably wait for a sequel.

(Reply to this)

frogleg writes:
on Oct 10 2007 09:28 AM

In reply to this comment (#1179555)
There is NO WAY that this movie should be live action. Try to imagine what all those characters would look like in makeup and costume. That would be ridiculous! I'm glad they're going the animation route here.

(Reply to this)

BuckyUnderbelly writes:
on Oct 10 2007 10:07 AM

The problem (if you could pick just one) with doing this live-action ... is that everybody on screen would look like they're in a touring company of Cats!

(Reply to this)

apostate writes:
on Oct 10 2007 11:08 AM

I think this is less a nostalgia project than a case of "it worked then, it should work now." Thundercats was a popular show in the eighties, why wouldn't today's kids like it as well. If it helps a few dads or moms bring their kids to it because they remember it from their youth so much the better.

(Reply to this)

zgberg writes:
on Oct 10 2007 12:11 PM

thunder thunder thunder hoooooooooooooooooooo!

(Reply to this)

RainNIU writes:
on Oct 10 2007 01:32 PM

In reply to this comment (#1180215)
Word...

(Reply to this)

bobbquackenbush writes:
on Oct 10 2007 02:26 PM

I'm thinking "Cats" as an action adventure film too.

(Reply to this)

damvbat writes:
on Oct 10 2007 02:54 PM

let the guys at robot chicken do the movie

(Reply to this)

CoUcH ToMaToE DoUgIe writes:
on Oct 11 2007 12:15 AM

they better get the original voice over people. most are still alive folks

including lion-o himself. i think only the guy who did mummra is dead and perhaps the

guy who did panthro, i think. still, as long as i have the lion-o voice on the big

screen, as in transformers this summer, i will be happy. and the fact michael bay isn't

doing it gets me even more happy that it will actually have a story that isn't torture.

hmmm, maybe they can get megan fox as cheetra's voice. yes, i know its cgi but just

imagining megan fox running in a bikini at super speed and using her big bo stick would

make me verrrrrrrry happy:D) but seriously would actually like original cheetra voice

as well, seeing she and lion-o voice guy DID reprise their voice over for a family guy

skit in that stweie's big adventure "movie".

(Reply to this)

chaddukes writes:
on Oct 11 2007 01:14 AM

In reply to this comment (#1182010)
"...robot chicken."

thats a good idea. give it to a low budget show that 3 million people watch TOPS. I like that they are involving someone from Gears, that game is gorgeous. pg-13 and I'm happy.

(Reply to this)

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