JJ Abrams Developing Speed Racer Show After Writing Script In The 90s
J.J. Abrams is reportedly developing a live-action TV adaptation of Speed Racer years after writing a script for an unproduced film. Speed Racer, or as it is known originally in Japan, Mach GoGoGo, was a popular anime series broadcast in the United States in the late 60s. Hollywood spent years trying to make a movie based on the property and finally succeeded with the Wachowski's Speed Racer in 2008.
However, multiple other directors, actors, and writers were attached to the film, one of them being writer J.J Abrams who wrote a script for Speed Racer in the 1990s with Superman: The Movie director Richard Donner on board. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón almost helmed Abrams's script with Johnny Depp in the lead role, yet the project never materialized. At the time, Abrams was best known as the writer of films like Regarding Henry and Gone Fishin', but now he has directed some of the biggest movies of all time, including revitalizingStar Trek and Star Wars for a new generation and now may get his chance with Speed Racer once more.
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A report from Deadline mentions that Abrams' production company Bad Robot is developing a Speed Racer series for Apple TV+ as part of their deal with Warner Bros. The series will reportedly be live-action, and Abrams will serve as Executive Producer. Ron Fitzgerald (Friday Night Lights) and Hiram Martinez (The Last Ship) are attached to write the series.
It is worth noting that Bad Robot is not developing this highly recognizable IP for WB's streaming service HBO Max but instead for Apple TV. Apple TV's biggest series, Ted Lasso, is a Warner Bros. production, so it isn't unprecedented, but it is interesting
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