Jerry O'Flaherty has been tapped by Warner Bros. to direct its CG-animated Thundercats feature, based on the popular '80s cartoon series, comicbook and toy line.
This will be O'Flaherty’s filmdirecting debut after being an art director on videogames such as Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 3 and the Command and Conquer series.
"It feels like a natural thing for me to step into," he said recently. "Games have come so far now. The last four years of my life have been about bringing the energy of filmmaking into the videogame experience."
The film will tell the origin of the Thundercats and expands on the major heroes and villains from the series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats.
For those of you under 30 or with lives, the Thundercats are a group of humanoid cats who must flee planet Thundera when it gets all destroyed ‘n’ stuff. They crash-land on another planet, Third Earth, and must fight an evil sorcerer named Mumm-Ra, who is hell-bent on killing them (presumably because he hates cats). The franchise began in 1983 and spawned several animated series, a toy line produced by LJN; and comicbooks published by Marvel and DC imprints.
I can't wait for this I'm a big thunder cats fan!