bad robot

New SPEED RACER Series In The Works At Apple

Apple TV+ is revving up its engines for a new live-action televised take on Tatsuo Yoshida’s 1960s manga IP, Speed Racer. Multiple trade sources are discussing the series and there’s word that J.J. Abrams will exec produce the series via his Bad Robot banner, with Hiram Martinez (Snowpiercer, Get Shorty) co-writing and serving as showrunner. Plot details on the show are unknown. However, THR notes the show had been in the works for years under Abrams label in a deal with Warner’s TV division, and that the rights holders at Tatsunoko are “believed to have blessed” the new series version Apple is working on. The show will mark the latest move to live action since the Wachowskis’ adapted it for the big screen in 2008 at Warner Bros. with actor Emile Hirsch starring in the title role. The film ultimately bombed at the box office but still stands with cult […]

Marc Webb To Tackle YOUR NAME For Paramount

Lee B. Golden III

There’s already a bit of brouhaha about this update, but word has it from Deadline on Thursday that Marc Webb (500 Days Of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man films) will be behind directing duties for a live-action adaptation of Shinkai Makoto’s star-crossed romantic fantasy adventure Your Name. I haven’t seen the original anime from 2016 (I want to and actually hope to soon as possible), but I’m keen on the kind of harrowing love story that Webb may be able to achieve here with a plot that centers on two distant high schoolers who are drawn closer while mysteriously switching bodies ahead of a disastrous event. Screenwriter Eric Heiserrer (Arrival) is penning Webb’s vision that centers instead on a young Native American woman living in a rural area, and a young man from Chicago. Instantly, grievances behind Americanizing a beloved Japanese property that’s gotten rave reviews take center stage, which is […]

LOU: Allison Janney Set To Star In Anna Foerster’s Kidnap Thriller For Bad Robot

Lee B. Golden III

THR‘s coverage this week on upcoming independent thriller, Lou, is being said to tonally span the likes of Thelma and Louise and Taken. Just the mention of those particular titles strike a chord as we learn more about the project hailing from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, formerly in the hands of Paramount. Penned by Maggie Cohn by way of revisals from Jack Stanley, Oscar-winning I, Tonya co-star and actress Allison Janney starring in the role of a hard-shelled, insubordinate landlord who returns to her “particular set of skills” – per se, to aid a woman in tracking down her son and rescuing him from her estranged husband. Anna Foerster (Outlander, Netflix series Jessica Jones) is set to direct with Abrams producing alongside Braden Aftergood (Hell or High Water). Lou will commence principal photography next Spring. Janney recently wrapped Bad Education with Hugh Jackman and will next in Eve helmer Tate […]

OVERLORD Duo Rejoin For Superhero Thriller, THE HEAVY

Lee B. Golden III

Borys Kit over at The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive update officially announcing James Avery and J.J. Abrams for what’s been described as none other than a subversive take on the superhero genre. The Heavy is the name and sounds like an original, inviting concept on which Abrams will produce with Avery at the helm. News of the film comes following last week’s festive appeal to attendees during Paramount’s panel at CinemaCon in Vegas for the Son Of A Gun director’s latest period WWII horror sci-fi, Overlord. That film, penned by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith and telling of American paratroopers on D-Day who discover Nazis’ hidden experiments with the undead, opens on October 26.

Hit Fantasy Sci-Fi, YOUR NAME, Is Getting A Live-Action Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Distributors like Funimation, Huaxia and Madman sure found themselves in great straits since late last year with the rollout of Shinkai Makoto’s hit anime feature, Your Name. The latest release is coming on Blu-Ray and DVD on November for U.S. audiences following its successful limited theatrical run back in April – a terrific prospect in light of news that broke on Wednesday for the latest pairing of Paramount and Bad Robot for a live-action adaptation. Obviously something like this will hit a sour note for anyone who’s paid attention to the dialogue on the treatment of Asian IPs and films like Ghost In The Shell and Death Note are all recent examples of this. The choice to do an adaptation of this nature does bring some interest, however, and so one can only hope that the film will acquire all the right ingredients needed to make it work. I still […]