mecha movie madness

via AICN I see that there’s a Voltron movie planned, and continued rumblings about Robotech:

MTV Splash Page notes that “The Losers” director Sylvain White has expressed interest in helming an adaptation of the classic “Robotech” animated series.

“Well, [‘Robotech’ is] not a project that’s greenlit,” related White during an appearance at last weekend’s WonderCon (via Sci-Fi Wire). “It’s a great cult series. When it came out, I actually saw it in France, growing up. I saw it in French. It’s a pretty amazing cartoon. And I’m hoping it’s going to come to fruition.”

“I read a draft that’s really good,” continued White. “I’m interested in doing it, but the project is not fast tracked or anything like that, so there’s no official thing. There’s no deal… They sent me a draft. I liked it. It’s a work in progress.”

Robotech was Harmony Gold’s compiled localization of mecha anime “The Super Dimension Fortress Macross,” “The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross” and “Genesis Climber Mospeada.” However, given the level difficulties involved, a movie is more likely to be weighed toward South Cross and Mospeada than the moe popular Macross.
(…)
Corona Coming Attractions reports that efforts to make a Voltron movie are back to square one. Neither the Justin Marks script nor the more recent Jeff Davis rewrite will be the shooting script; the production is officially in “reboot mode” and Max Makowski is no longer attached to direct.

neither of these looks to be approaching production status anytime soon. However, there’s a website for a Gurren Lagann movie, which in many ways would be far cooler than either of the others.

What is it with mecha mania? I wonder if the Transformers movies have given a boost to the genre, or whether they are perceived as a separate sub-genre?