Watch out Transformers, the defender of the universe Voltron is coming to the big screen as well.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe was centered around a group of young Galaxy Alliance pilots that commanded five robot lions. In times of serious threat, the lions could be combined to form a large, sword-welding, fighting machine known as Voltron.

Like other animated shows of that era, Voltron was based on a Japanese animated show and first debuted in the U.S. in 1984 in syndication and on ABC. The series spawned lots of action figures and comic books as well as subsequent animated series.

Now, over 20 years after the first Voltron adventures, New Regency is close to closing a deal with the Mark Gordon Company to adapt the series into a live-action feature film. The deal has been in the works for almost three years and will likely represent New Regency’s biggest project in years. The company is currently producing the upcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks feature as well as a number of other non-TV-related projects.

Justin Marks has written the script that’s reportedly loosely based on the original series and is set in post-apocalyptic New York City and Mexico. In Marks’ version, five ragtag survivors of an alien attack on Earth band together to pilot the robot lions and form Voltron to fight off the planet’s invaders.

Marks is no stranger to the genre and is also working on a big-screen adaptations of TV’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, DC Comics’ Green Arrow, and the video game Street Fighter.

A 2008 release date for the Voltron movie is rumored and the companies hope it will spawn yet another action-adventure franchise. Stay tuned!