Without hesitation every fangirl of Japanese movies will agree that Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers, Red Cliff, The Returner) is the most famous heart throb in the business. His ability to speak Chinese, Japanese, and English makes him the Asian actor of the decade. And without doubt he has to play Rick Hunter. For me, it just makes sense that Rick Hunter or Hikaru Ichijo be a Japanese actor.
There has been rumors of Toby McGuire wanted to play the role, but since Chinese-American James Wan is at the helm of the franchise, I would hope that he realizes that the entire Japanese Macross franchise was written with intentions of a diverse group of characters. Each character represents a nation already. We are talking about U.N. Spacey after all.
Hikaru or Rick has to be Japanese! And yes, I agree that Rory or Roy Fokker has to be American, but let's not fuss. This is a no brainer and nobody will complain that Takeshi Kaneshiro takes a spot on the Robotech movie.
So James Wan? What are you waiting for. Pick up the phone and call CEO Mr. Kazuo Hirai of Sony and tell him you want Takeshi Kaneshiro as the lead actor in your film. And that this won't turn out to be a Seth Rogan Interview movie!
Trust me, Robotech fans will miss the significance but the entire nation of Japan, not to mention China and a long list of female fans will get it.
Like Takeshi said in his English interview as well as dozens of Japanese and Chinese news interviews, 2015 is a different market for Hollywood movies. Asian actors are a must as China has opened their markets to movies. And if Sony Pictures is going to back into the running, they must move quickly to establish a global franchise which expands into China as well as Europe and Japan. Sony Pictures is one of the few studios who is struggling to compete. We all know that Disney owns their own properties like Frozen but also owns the Marvel franchise (Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk etc...) and of course this years' Star Wars franchise.
WB, although headed by an Japanese American CEO, has admitted that DC Comics is a bit darker and much more fragmented market but easily points to Dark Knight and TV's Flash and Arrow franchises as moneymakers. Also WB has pointed to the upcoming Superman vs Batman film which will introduce Wonder Woman as a spin off franchise.
Sony is in desperate need of a new franchise. And for me, it's only logic that Japanese stars finally enter the realm of Anime-to-motion-picture productions.
Takeshi Kaneshiro for Rick Hunter!
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