Speed Racer Live-Action Series In the Works from J.J. Abrams

One of the most iconic anime of all time is Speed Racer which was produced and aired during the 60s and became very popular when it was broadcasted in the United States. The franchise went to go on for decades including a Hollywood live-action adaptation that was released in 2008. Now, it looks like the iconic anime is getting another shot on the live-action screen.

According to Variety, a Speed Racer live-action series is in the works at Apple TV+. J.J. Abrams will executive produce the project under his Bad Robot banner. Ron Fitzgerald (Perry Mason) and Hiram Martinez (Snowpiercer) are attached to write, executive produce, and serve as co-showrunners. The project, which has been reportedly in the works for a considerable amount of time, has been given a series order.

In case you're not familiar with the story, Speed Racer follows the adventure of the titular auto racer and his team which consists of his father and car builder Pops Racer, his younger brother Spritle and his pet chimpanzee Chim-Chim, and girlfriend Trixie. Speed also has a mysterious rival named Racer X, who turned out to be his older brother Rex.

Speed Racer started as a manga created by Tatsuo Yoshida which ran from 1966 to 1968. An anime adaptation was made soon after which ran from 1967 to 1968 and became wildly popular in the United States and credited as one of the shows that made anime popular in the country.

It also garnered an American live-action film adaptation directed by The Wachowskis that was released in 2008 to mostly negative reviews and flopped at the box office. However, it gained a strong cult following ever since. This new project will be the second live-action adaptation of the iconic anime.

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In a time where a lot of IPs are getting new adaptations, remakes, or reboots, it's not surprising to hear that they are attempting on doing another adaptation of Speed Racer. Having Abrams attached to the project makes this interesting and worth checking out. Apple TV+ has also been making a name recently as one of the top streaming services thanks to their award-winning original shows and this is definitely one of the most prestigious projects in their slate.