A new Speed Racer series is in development.
As reported by Deadline, an all-new live-action adaptation of the beloved racing series has ordered for the Apple TV+ streaming service. The new show is being developed by Warner Bros. TV and Bad Robot, the production company led by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams. According to the report, writers Hiram Martinez, best known for their work on the Snowpiercer and Get Shorty TV series, and Ron Fitzgerald, who previously worked on Friday Night Lights and Weeds, will serve as the new series' showrunners and executive producers.
The new show is described as being directly inspired by Mach GoGoGo, the 1966 manga by Tatsuo Yoshida that was later adapted into the anime series that would become known in the west as Speed Racer. The original TV series was created by Tatsunoko Productions, the legendary animation studio behind some of the most influential anime of all time, including the original Space Knight Tekkaman, Super Dimension Fortress Macross and The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. The original cartoon was followed up by two U.S.-produced sequel series, The New Adventures of Speed Racer in 1993 and Speed Racer: The Next Generation in 2008.
Also premiering in 2008 was the series first live-action adaptation, which was directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. The film starred Emile Hirsch as the eponymous Speed Racer, a teenage racing prodigy. Joining him were Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speed's Girlfriend, Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X and South Korean pop sensation Rain as Taejo Togokahn, a driver who becomes the key to exposing the corruption within the film's futuristic racing league. Despite being panned by critics at the time of its release and underperforming at the box office, the movie has since become something of a cult classic, with many modern critics now claiming that it is one of the most underrated films of the era.
While story details about the new show are scarce, the report does state that Bad Robot's new series will have no connections to the Wachowski sisters' film. The show is the most recent addition to Bad Robot's growing list of titles produced exclusively from the Apple TV+ platform, which includes Lisey's Story, an adaptation of a Stephen King story that stars Julianne Moore, and My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, an upcoming TV series based on Amy Silverstein's uplifting memoir.
Additional details about the new series, including its cast and a premiere date, have yet to be announced.
Source: Deadline