The Robopocalypse is coming. Yes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the 2011 novel by Daniel H. Wilson has been optioned for a TV series by Akiva Goldsman (Practical Magic, The Da Vinci Code) and Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, How the Grinch Stole Christmas).
Howard’s company Imagine Entertainment, and Goldsman’s Weed Road are participating in the development of the series. Howard is set to direct the pilot, while Goldsman is set to showrun the series and write the pilot. Steven Spielberg’s (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) Amblin Entertainment will executive produce the show.
The novel was famously optioned to be directed by Spielberg in the early 2010s, before the book was even published. Back then, Drew Goddard (The Martian, Project Hail Mary) was attached to write a draft of the script. Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, The Dark Knight Rises) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers: Endgame) were attached to star. Spielberg postponed the project in 2014. Eventually, in 2018, Michael Bay (Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) was attached to direct the project, but it did not materialize then, either.
The novel centers around humanity’s war for survival against A.I. According to its logline, a robot uprising begins at “Zero Hour”, and humanity is almost annihilated. Isolated pockets of humanity remain, and humanity must unite for the first time to defeat the robot menace.
No streamer or network is currently involved with the project, but Howard appears optimistic about it. “Robopocalypse has all the scale and suspense of a major action story, but what drew me to it are the thought-provoking themes and humanity at its center,” Howard said in a statement. “Daniel created a future that feels both startling and increasingly plausible, with characters who must figure out what connects us when the technology we rely on turns against us. I am also thrilled to work with Akiva again. We have shared some incredibly meaningful creative experiences, and this feels like the right story to bring us back together.”
