Voltron: Henry Cavill to star in Gold Coast-shot blockbuster movie adaptation of 1980s cartoon

Superman star Henry Cavill will lead an all-star cast in a blockbuster adaptation of a cult 1980s cartoon to begin filming on the Gold Coast. ALL THE DETAILS

Superman star Henry Cavill will lead an all-star cast in a blockbuster adaptation of a cult 1980s cartoon to begin filming on the Gold Coast at the end of this month.

More than $100 million is expected to be pumped into the city’s economy and 800 jobs created as cameras begin rolling on the live action adaptation of Voltron: Defender of the Universe.

Pre-production has already begun on the movie, from Amazon MGM Studios, which will be filmed at the Village Roadshow Studios in Oxenford.

Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel.

Arts Minister and Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek said the movie was evidence the city’s reputation as a filming location remained strong.

“Securing this major production is another feather in our cap as we continue to build Queensland’s reputation as a major filming destination,” he said.

“The Crisafulli Government is committed to supporting our local filming and production industry and this project will provide more than 800 local jobs for Queenslanders, from filming to hospitality and hardware to hairdressing.

“Queensland is the best place in the world to live and showcasing this on the big screen goes a long way in attracting future productions and boosting tourism in our great state.”

The Voltron cartoon, which ran from 1984-1985, was one of several Japanese anime and toylines adapted for western markets in the 1980s including The Transformers, Battle of the Planets and Robotech.

Voltron

It tells the story of five pilots who fly robot lions that combine to form a giant robot which defends the world from the villainous alien King Zarkon.

Cavill, best-known for his roles as Superman and Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, leads a big-name case including Sterling K. Brown, Daniel Quinn-Toye Rita Ora, John Kim, Alba Baptista, Samson Kayo and Tharanya Tharan

The movie will be directed by frequent Dwayne “The Rock’ Johnson collaborator Rawson Marshall Thurber, who previously helmed Central Intelligence, Skyscraper, Red Notice and the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast

Thurber is also co-writing the film, lured to the Gold Coast through Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy which provides incentives to attract film and television projects to the city.

Voltron will be the biggest project filmed on the Gold Coast since action was called in October 2023 on Ron Howard’multimillion-dollar survival epic, Eden, which stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney.

That project, by comparison, injected $26.5 million into the economy and created more than 300 local jobs.

Voltron

Other recent Gold Coast productions include Apples Never Fall, Mortal Kombat II, How to Make Gravy, Good Cop/Bad Cop, The Bluff, Balls Up and the second season of the Godzilla series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

It was revealed in late 2023 that the Production Attraction Strategy had generated $2bn for the economy and created more than 20,000 jobs.

It comes as Gold Coast movie-making facilities are set to ramp up in 2025. It was announced in November that an old council depot site at Miami will be transformed into a Creative Industries Precinct to boost film production and deliver an extra $80m into the economy.

Baz Luhrmann’s production company Bazmark will set up shop in the precinct, which will house visual effects and production houses.

Council is also in talks to build a new studio on city owned land at Pimpama.

“We recognise there are constraints with a lack of production infrastructure on the Gold Coast … and further growth to expand studio space and supporting infrastructure and capability for the screen industry is crucial,” Mayor Tom Tate said in November.   

Originally published as Voltron: Henry Cavill to star in Gold Coast-shot blockbuster movie adaptation of 1980s cartoon