As we have already discussed today, JJ Abrams is a busy man. Between producing the next star trek and Impossible mission moviesin the same way whatever he does for Warner Bros., the man has lots of projects he’s attached to serve as an executive producer on. Lest you think he would slow down he now adds an adaptation of speed racer to his busy schedule.
Reported by VarietyAbrams will serve as an EP via his Bad Robot banner on a new live-action version of the 1960s anime, itself based on Tatsuo Yoshida’s manga Mach GoGoGo. This will be the second time the series has been adapted for live action, the previous version being the cult version from 2008. film directed by Matrix creators Lana and Lilly Wachowski and starring Emile Hirsch and John Goodman. If you remember this movie, you sing its praises as often as you can, and if, like me, you haven’t seen the movie… well, here is one list of reasons for why it’s great.
This reboot will come to Apple, with Ron Fitzgerald and Hiram Martinez fulfilling triple duty as writers, EPs, and co-showrunners. Fitzgerald is behind the recent Perry Mason reboot for HBO Max, plus the previous experience on Westworld and Friday Night Lights; Martinez’s earlier work includes the snowdrops series and FX Snowfall.
According to Variety, this speed racer reboot is a project that has been in the works for several years and has already received a full series order as a result. The question now is whether adding Abrams as an EP will help the show move forward in production or cause it to linger even further in development hell. With the various shows and movies who have his name attached with not much to show for it, it may be a while before we have any substantial news on this new Speed release. In the meantime, there’s always the movie, right?
Want more io9 news? Find out when to wait for the last wonder and star wars versions, what’s next for the DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about Dragon House and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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