Adam Wingard is back in theaters next weekend with “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” his sequel to 2021’s surprise hit “Godzilla vs. Kong.” And if his latest Monsterverse thrives at the box office again, it’s safe to assume Wingard will be back to make it a trilogy. But what about all of the other projects Wingard’s attached to, like, for instance, his “Thundercats” movie? ComicBookMovie.com (via Gizmodo) has an update on that project, and no, it’s dead yet.
Warner Bros. first announced “Thundercats” the day before “Godzilla vs. Kong” took the COVID-19 box office by storm in March 2021, but since then, no one’s heard anything about it. But Wingard confirmed that he and longtime collaborator Simon Barrett are still penning the script. “Simon and I are still actively working on the script,” he told the outlet. “We finished our last draft basically right when I was going into production on [“The New Empire”] and we just had to put everything on hold. Right now, we’re actively working on it again. So whether that means that’s the next thing I do or…I’m not sure. But it’s definitely one of the top priorities I have right now in terms of working on a script.”
Back in 2021, Wingard confirmed his “ThunderCats” movie would retain the original show’s traditional animation look with a CGI boost. First airing in 1985, “ThunderCats” ran for 130 episodes, quickly becoming one of the most popular animated series of the mid-’80s. But recent attempts to reboot the series didn’t fare as well. Cartoon Network‘s 2011 series lasted only 26 episodes before being canceled, and another reboot in 2020, “ThunderCats Roar,” didn’t connect with audiences either.
But Wingard thinks he’ll be able to recapture the magic of the original series in his upcoming film. “I saw this as an opportunity to do a new type of fantasy sci-fi spectacle film that people have never seen before,” he said about the project in 2021. “It’s got a rich mythology; the characters are fantastic. The colors. 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.””
Still, there’s no guarantee that “ThunderCats” will be Wingard’s next movie, especially if “Godzilla x King: The New Empire” is another box office smash. And “ThunderCats” isn’t the only project Wingard attached his name to in 2021 either. In February 2021, he signed on to helm a remake of John Woo‘s epic ’90s actioner “Face/Off.” Then in May of that year, he got attached to a movie adaptation of Robert Kirkman‘s “Hardcore” comic book series. So Wingard has a lot of irons in the fire, and any of them could be his next project.
But the success or failure of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” will likely decide what Wingard does next. Stay tuned for how that film does when it smashes into theaters on March 29.