Live-action 'Speed Racer' may be coming back to life on Apple TV+

A live-action "Speed Racer" series is reportedly in the works at Apple TV+ with J.J. Abrams acting as executive producer.

The new "Speed Racer" series will be the second live-action adaptation of the 1967 anime. It will follow the character named Speed Racer, who is a race car driver with a souped-up vehicle called the Mach 5.

According to Variety, the series has been in the works for a considerable amount of time and Apple has given it a series order. Ron Fitzgerald and Hiram Martinez on as writers, executive producers, and show runners.

J.J. Abrams is attached as an executive producer under the Bad Robot brand. Abrams' previous Apple TV+ series, "Little Voice," was canceled after its first season.

No details were provided about a potential release window. Customers can watch "Speed Racer" when and if it debuts on Apple TV+ by subscribing for $4.99 per month or via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.

7 Comments

decoderring 14 Years · 56 comments

About 2 years ago

winstoner71 said:

All in. I thought the movie was so underrated.

Same here. Visually, it was incredible; I watched it twice.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes

Marvin 19 Years · 15360 comments

About 2 years ago

winstoner71 said:

All in. I thought the movie was so underrated.

Something gets lost when cartoons are translated to live action. In the case of Speed Racer, part of what makes the animation appealing is the exaggerated characters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL3cFtfV1TE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXFknz4J88

When live-action characters behave that way, they come across as camp like the old Batman movies. There's an article here saying there's a Thundercats live-action movie coming:

https://screenrant.com/thundercats-movie-updates-release-date-cast-story-details/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGNqrAtsgg

The movements and timing in animation don't translate well to live-action. It takes a long time to make animation but it offers much more for the presentation. This can be seen in Netflix's Love Death and Robots animated series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1CAW8wN6ZA

Virtual cameras can be placed anywhere, the scene animation timing can be matched exactly to audio and the effects sequences can be made to fit with the rendering style of the animation. I think more advanced animation would suit these reboots more than live-action. Some of these old cartoons could still hold up today without any changes.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

DAalseth 7 Years · 3079 comments

About 2 years ago

Marvin said:

winstoner71 said:

All in. I thought the movie was so underrated.

Something gets lost when cartoons are translated to live action. In the case of Speed Racer, part of what makes the animation appealing is the exaggerated characters:

I agree. After many years and many tries I just assume that a live action version of any animated source is garbage.
Chuck Jones put it best: I look for characters that cannot be done in live action. That is what animation is all about.
That means that things are animated BECAUSE they cannot be done well live. Don't even try. I don't care if it's Beauty and the Beast, or Pete's Dragon, or The Flintstones, or Mushi Shi, the live action version is by definition going to be garbage.
So no, skip the live action Speed Racer. It cannot possibly be worth a bucket of warm spit.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

Japhey 7 Years · 1772 comments

About 2 years ago

Personally, I thought the 2008 movie was absolute crap. Not even a 4:20 viewing was enough to make that turd watchable. I agree with DAalseth, this will prove to be crap too. Seriously, who in the world was even asking for this?