Can Americans Really Do a Better Space Battleship Yamato Film than the Japanese?

Before you rush to yell, "No," ask yourself: Why even argue? Of course the Americans can't do a live-action Space Battleship Yamato (aka Starblazers) film better than the Japanese, who recently released a well-received film (see trailers here).

And yet, there are plans for just that: a U.S.-made live-action Yamato film, reports Deadline's Mike Fleming. Skydance Productions, run by David Ellison (son of Oracle king Larry Ellison), is working on a deal for the U.S. Yamato version. Skydance already has a big hit under its belt, notes Fleming, in the form of the recent True Grit remake.

It's their money, so they can do what they want. It could, of course, turn out to be a good film. But I have tended to find American versions of foreign films to be homogenized, stripped of the unique touches that made the films worth my attention in the first place. (You're right in guessing that I'm not eagerly anticipating the Americanized versions of Stieg Larssson's The Girl Who Blah Blah Blahed books; the Swedes did a great job of that themselves on the big screen.)

But hey, I'm always game for more space opera.