There’s no doubt that competition to land the big directing jobs in Hollywood is fierce in this economy. Director Bryan Barber (Idlewild) has decided to take a more proactive approach and is now bringing a project that fits right into the context of Transformers and Real Steel to the studios.

Deadline reports that Barber wants to bring Gigantor, the 1960’s Japanese cartoon import, back to the silver screen for new generations of children to enjoy. Barber grew up watching Gigantor and tracked down the rights to Fred Ladd, an 86-year old voice-over artist. After a long courtship with Ladd, a detailed storyboard presentation sold the project to Ladd. Barber now controls the movie, merchandise and videogame rights to Gigantor and will, of course, direct the film.

Barber describes his Gigantor to be “Transformers meets Goonies:”

“There’s a film here that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with heart and visual effects, about a super weapon that falls into the hands of a [twelve-year old] kid who develops the confidence to use the robot to save the world.”

Barber is known for directing music videos for bands like Outkast and debuted his first feature film in 2006 with a musical set in the Prohibition Era called Idlewild. He is working on putting together a six-minute teaser reel for Gigantor to show the major studios.

Here’s the theme song for Gigantor to jog your memory:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNEKhxvEvlc[/youtube]

Just how popular is Gigantor in Japan? They built a nearly 60-foot statue in Wakamatsu Park in honor of the late manga creator of Gigantor (aka Kobe Tetsujin 28-Go) Mitsuteru Yokoyama in 2009.