A live-action scripted television show based on the manga and animated series Speed Racer is in the works at Apple, with J.J. Abrams set to executive produce.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Abrams will be attached to a series that will see Hiram Martinez (Snowpiercer, Get Shorty) co-write the project as well as serve as showrunner. The report mentions that Martinez’s “exciting take” is said to have impressed the likes of Apple, Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. Ron Fitzgerald (Westworld) is attached as the other co-writer and showrunner.
Not too much is being said about the upcoming series as of yet, but The Hollywood Reporter does note that it’s “been in the works for years” and comes from Abrams and Bad Robot’s overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. After landing at Apple, the show has been slowly making its way through the development phase, with writers and other crew being brought on in what was described as an “excruciatingly slow” process.
Speed Racer was created by Tatsuo Yoshida as a manga in 1966, and quickly took the world by storm. The series was adapted into an anime in 1967, which ran for 52 episodes before another anime, Speed Racer X, was released decades later in 1997. That series was adapted for American audiences by Nickelodeon in 2002, but only ran for 13 episodes before licensing disputes between DiC and Speed Racer Enterprises caused the series to stop running.
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In 2008, a live-action film based on the series was released, with the Wachowskis (the Matrix series) acting as directors. The film premiered to mostly negative reviews and didn’t perform well at all at the box office, but has since grown a massive cult following, with many reversing their original takes on the film and calling it underrated as the years have gone by.
