A Thundercats post? Really?

Congrats to Jerry O'Flaherty who has been picked to direct a new CG-animated Thundercats movie based on the 80's cartoons and toys. I can't imagine there being many thirty-something males out there who don't find this to be very exciting news -- I certainly do -- but you may be wondering who Jerry O'Flaherty is and why I'm writing about him.

I worked with O'Flaherty last year during the couple weeks I spent at Epic Games' offices, working on the guidebook for Gears of War. O'Flaherty was the Art Director for the game and single-handedly designed and wrote the "Art of Gears of War" book that was included with the Limited Edition version of my strategy guide. He also helped guide his henchman through the process of creating the dozens of "pencil-sketch" maps for the guidebook. The maps came out phenomenally well and really showed the game's gritty style. Our goal with the maps was to make them look like something that a COG soldier may have scribbled on a scrap piece of paper from the field, and they completely nailed it. You have to have seen the maps to know how incredible they look.

Anyway, big congrats to Jerry for making the leap. If I recall correctly, he had a number of Thundercats action figures on his desk and shelves -- this must be a dream job for him.

Read the full article at Variety.com:

Warner Bros. has tapped its top Thundercat.

Vidgame vet Jerry O'Flaherty will helm the studio's CG-animated "Thundercats" feature, based on the popular '80s cartoon series, comicbook and toy line. The project marks the first feature directing gig for O'Flaherty, who served as an art director on such bestselling games as "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament 3" for Epic Games and the "Command and Conquer" series from Westwood Studios.

O'Flaherty had been looking to make the leap into movies and was considering several projects, even live action. But the "Thundercats" story appealed to him, as well as the fact that vidgames are increasingly incorporating lavish animated sequences that mimic pics, making a toon a much easier transition.

"It feels like a natural thing for me to step into," he said. "Games have come so far now. The last four years of my life have been about bringing the energy of filmmaking into the videogame experience."

The property revolves around a group of humanoid cats who must flee the planet of Thundera, which is destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer bent on killing them off.

O'Flaherty plans to remain faithful to the "Thundercats" franchise, which began in 1983 and spawned several animated series, the most recent of which aired on Cartoon Network; a toy line produced by LJN; and comicbooks published by Marvel and DC imprints. Warner Bros. has owned the rights to the animated series since acquiring Telepictures in 1989.