ThunderCats…HO!! Godzilla vs. Kong director to adapt classic cartoon for 'fantasy sci-fi spectacle film'

Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard’s next project is taking him to a little dying planet called Dundera. That’s right, the OG ThunderCats are coming to the big screen and — according to Deadline — Wingard will be writing and directing the Warner Bros. movie.

Those of a certain age may fondly remember the 1985-89 animated series, where a bunch of humanoid cat-like aliens with names like Lion-O and Tygra work to save their species from annihilation. Wingard was one of those who grew up with the show, and almost flunked out of high school when he spent too much time writing a ThunderCats script.

The show also spawned a multimedia franchise, and has been rebooted twice on the small screen: 2011's ThunderCats (seen above) and 2020's ThunderCats Roar. A film adaptation has reportedly been in the works since at least 2007, when screenwriter Paul Sopocy was hired to write a CGI-animated feature.

Need a refresher on the iconic opening theme song for the '80s show? Check it out here:

With Godzilla vs. Kong under his belt, Warner Bros. is now making Wingard’s childhood dreams come true. “Nobody on this planet knows or has thought as much about ThunderCats as I have,” Wingard shared in an interview with Deadline. “I saw this as an opportunity to do a new type of fantasy sci-fi spectacle film that people have never seen before.”

Wingard’s vision for the future of ThunderCats also doesn’t include any live-action components.“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,” he said. “I want to do a movie you’ve never seen before. A hybrid CGI film that has a hyper real look and somehow bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI. That’s the starting point, and [writing partner] Simon Barrett and I are getting into the script now.”

As for his other projects, Wingard confirmed to Deadline that his recently announced Face/Off movie, which may be next on his roster ahead of ThunderCats, will be a sequel rather than a remake of John Woo’s 1997 action film starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. "When I look at Face/Off, some people have said if you are going to follow that film, it’s about the operation, a sci-fi gimmick," he explained. "To me, that’s not what it is. It’s part of it and is what makes it so unique and fun. But the story is really about the characters. Sean Archer and Castor Troy. The film is a follow-up to their story, and what it entails."

On the ThunderCats front, what Wingard’s vision will look like remains to be seen. And since Wingard and Barrett haven’t even started on the script yet, it will likely be a while until we see the ThunderCats grace the big screen. In the meantime, you can catch up with the original series on Hulu.