Speed Racer may soon be back on your screens as Apple TV+ has partnered with Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television to create a new live-action series.
Details remain scant and Deadline reports that the production process has been slow. Still, the series will be drawing on the original manga series—also known as Mach GoGoGo—for inspiration.
The show is now staffing a writer’s room, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that will be led by Hiram Martinez and Ron Fitzgerald. That’s a little unusual because Martinez previously wrote for the post-apocalyptic Snowpiercer series while Fitzgerald produced the contemplative Westworld.
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Although neither of those shows has quite the Saturday morning cartoon energy I remember from Speed Racer, Martinez’s “exciting take” on the source material is what is said to have impressed Apple, Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. enough to go ahead with the series.
Speed Racer is perhaps best remembered by American audiences as a 52-episode anime series that was first produced in Japan and then syndicated in the U.S. in the late ’60s. A popular show in its day, the series is said to have defined the American conception of anime for decades.
The series was based on the Mach GoGoGo mangas written by Tatsuo Yoshida. The property has been readapted for differing audiences through the years and in 2008 was made into a movie by the Wachowskis. Although the movie was a box office flop, it has since found a cult following thanks to its bright, colorful storytelling and distinctive cinematography.
This new television series will be completely unrelated to that film. No release date has yet been made public. J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot is also producing a live-action movie based on Hot Wheels toys.