Warner Bros. To Adapt Japanese Ma.K Series As A Feature Film
by Erik Amaya
Ma.K, aka Maschinen Krieger ZbV3000, may soon find its way the to the big screen.
According to The Hollywood Report, It producer Roy Lee is working with Warner Bros. Pictures to adapt the Japanese model kit/manga series as a Hollywood feature film. The concept was first devised by sculptor Kow Yokoyama, story editor Hiroshi Ichimura and graphic designer Kunitaka Imai in the pages of the Hobby Japan magazine in the early 1980s. Legal disputes between Yokoyama and Hobby Japan left the series, initially known as SF3D dormant until the mid-1990s.
Set in the late 29th Century, Ma.K chronicles the unrest between colonists returning to Earth after World War IV and a Galactic Federation attempts to steer the planet’s redevelopment. Over decades of skirmishes and all-out conflicts, the colonist-backed Independent Mercenary Army eventually create combat mecha known as the Armed Fighting Suit. The Federation’s representatives respond in kind.
The premise might give Mobile Suit Gundam fans a twinge of deja vu.
Executive producer Kevin Monroe told THR that the intention is to bring “this epic and rich sci-fi property as fans have for the last 35 years” to a much larger audience. If nothing else, it suggests the studios are looking toward combat mecha properties as the next big thing. Maybe Robotech‘s feature film chances just went up a notch. Or maybe it’s an attempt to pull director Andy Muschietti off that project and on to another “giant robots at war” concept.
Of course, it’s still early going for the project, and the limited English-language information on the property does not suggest the model kit series is known for more than really cool looking robot designs. Which, I imagine, makes adapting things much easier if you don’t have to worry about fan-favorite characters.
Ma.K is not currently scheduled for release.
