New Reboot Racing to Apple TV+: Live-Action “Speed Racer” Coming from J.J. Abrams

Based on a series of comic books, the series Is about a young race car driver, Speed Racer (in the English version), and his family of racers. J.J. Abrams will executive produce the series for Apple TV+ through his production company, Bad Robot.

Several versions of Speed Racer (Mach GoGoGo in Japan) have made their way to screens in America:

• The automobile racing series was adapted from manga created by Tatsuo Yoshida into an anime series that was originally aired in the late-1960s in Japan and in syndication in America – it was most American’s first introduction to anime.
• An American version, The New Adventures of Speed Racer, was produced and aired for 13 episodes in 1993 before being canceled. This series was a reboot and was not related to the original.
• An English-language version of a Japanese remake aired on Nickelodeon in 2002.
• Set in the world of the original, a series of webisodes¸ Speed Racer Lives, was released in 2006 on the 40^th anniversary of the original series. It followed Speed after he is married with two kids, Velocity and Speed Jr., who also love racing.  
• In 2008, Nicktoons released Speed Racer: The Next Generation, which was also set in the world of the original series, taking place years later. Speed Racer: The Next Generation lasted two seasons and coincided with the release of the live-action feature film directed by  Lana and Lilly Wachowski and starring Emile Hirsch and John Goodman. The movie failed at the box office, earning under $93 million.

Ron Fitzgerald (Perry Mason) and Hiram Martinez (Snowpiercer) serving as writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners for the series. Details about the cast, specific plot, and premiere date remain unknown. Abrams will also be producing the live-action movie based on the toy cars, Hot Wheels.

Photo: Speed Racer. Courtesy of Tatsunoko Productions.