Rita Ora and Sterling K. Brown have signed on to ‘Voltron’.
The 34-year-old singer and the ‘This Is Us’ actor, 48, are set to join Henry Cavill, John Kim and Daniel Quinn-Toye in ‘Red Notice’ filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber’s blockbuster for Amazon MGM Studios.
Although exact plot details are being kept under wraps, the upcoming movie will be a live-action adaptation of the beloved mecha anime show ‘Voltron: Defender of the Universe’, which followed a battalion known as the Robot Lions and their teenage pilots as they attempted to defeat the evil King Zarkon and take over the Galra Empire.
As well as directing ‘Voltron’, Thurber is set to produce the picture alongside Todd Lieberman (Hidden Pictures) Bob Koplar (World Events Productions) and David Hoberman (Hobie Films).
The ‘Central Intelligence’ filmmaker recently teased his ‘Voltron’ flick would “stay true to the iconic elements” that fans love.
In a video message that was shared during VoltCon in Indianapolis last month, Thurber - who is co-writing the script for ‘Voltron’ with Ellen Shanman - said: “I want to make sure that we stay true to the heart and the spirit of ‘Voltron’. In this film, we’re going to be introducing an entirely new generation of pilots.
“We’ve reimagined ‘Voltron’ for the live-action world, but we’re going to stay true to … those iconic elements that you love, that I love.”
While Amazon MGM Studios has not announced a release date for ‘Voltron’ yet, The Hollywood Reporter has said principal photography on the movie is set to commence next month in Australia.
‘Voltron: Defender of the Universe’ was a re-edited and re-dubbed version of the Japanese sci-fi shows ‘Beast King GoLion’ and ‘Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV’, both of which ran in 1981 and 1982 respectively until World Events Production decided to bring the two series together under one banner.
After making a name for herself in the music world, Ora branched out into Hollywood and appeared in the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ franchise, ‘Detective Pikachu’ and most recently ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’, in which she starred opposite Brandy as the Queen of Hearts.
The ‘Let You Love Me’ hitmaker previously admitted she was told to stop apologising to Brandy - who reprised her role of Cinderella after first playing the character in the 1997 eponymous flick - during scenes where she had to be rude to the ‘I Do It for You’ singer because Ora idolised her growing up.
She told Entertainment Weekly: “I would be like, ‘I’m so sorry, I don't mean it’, and Brandy’s like, ‘Can you stop? You are in character, do what you need to do.'
“And I was like, ‘But just remember, I love you!’ And then we’d get back into it. It was great.”
The ‘Anywhere’ hitmaker gushed over getting the chance to work with Brandy, and added the actress’ portrayal of the beloved princess in ‘Cinderella’ “made [her] believe” in herself.
She said: “Oh my gosh, it's crazy — I did a movie with Brandy! I mean, I love her so much. I loved her music growing up.
“She was one of the vocalists that I would try and imitate every day in my bedroom. And watching her Cinderella with Whitney Houston was so iconic for so many reasons. It made me believe in myself — like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can do this too.’”
