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They say all good things come to those who wait… and WAIT. Well, the wait for “Robopocalypse” fans might finally be over, as Oscar winners Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman have announced they’re working on a TV adaptation.
It does seem like an eternity since news first broke that Portland-based New York Times bestselling author Daniel H. Wilson’s “Robopocalypse” (Doubleday, 2011) was bought by Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks SKG for a sci-fi spectacle, with Drew Goddard (“The Martian”) brought in to pen the screenplay.
That was back in 2009, and since then the story of a rogue AI named Archos and a hearty band of indigenous people in America’s heartland battling to save humanity from extinction has been placed on Hollywood’s back burner. After numerous stalled starts and director Michael Bay getting involved in 2018, “Robopocalypse” was quietly powered down due to script issues, filmmaker scheduling conflicts, and the enormous budget required.
But now we have been blessed with the news, first broken by The Hollywood Reporter, that Ron Howard (“Apollo 13,” “The Da Vinci Code”) and Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”) have taken up the mantle of this chilling sci-fi project to develop as a new TV series. And what timing, just as AI fever has gripped the planet with paranoia centered around our eventual robot overlords.
“‘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,” Ron Howard shared in a statement.
The cover of 2011’s smash sci-fi hit Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
Image credit: Vintage
The cover of the 2014 sequel Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson
Image credit: Vintage
“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.”
As a PhD graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and a future king of the techno-thriller, Wilson was the ideal writer to bring this frightening story to life, and a 2014 sequel titled “Robogenesis” was equally gripping.
The prolific, award-winning writer has since set up a multitude of other Hollywood projects spawned from his catalog of works, including “Amped,” “The Clockwork Dynasty,” the authorized sequel to Michael Crichton’s “The Andromeda Strain,” “The Andromeda Evolution,” and his 2025 alien invasion novel “Hole in the Sky,” still alive at Netflix.
Howard’s Imagine Entertainment will partner with Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road Pictures on this episodic adaptation, with Howard attached to direct the pilot episode and Goldsman serving as series showrunner.
“Robopocalypse” marks a creative reunion for the distinguished creators, following their collaborations on “A Beautiful Mind,” “Cinderella Man,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and “Angels & Demons.” Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is slated to executive produce the ambitious show alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Jeb Brody and Weed’s Rachel Wizenberg and Greg Lessans.
It’s too early to tell which streaming service the “Robopocalypse” TV show will be attached to yet. Hopefully the pilot episode wows one of the big names, and we can finally see the “Robopocalypse” adaptation of our dreams.
In the meantime, we’d recommend checking out the original book by Daniel H. Wilson.
