Real Steel, a “Rocky with robots” movie that apparently came out in 2011 (?!) is getting a series order on Disney Plus. We all remember the movie starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and Anthony Mackie about an ex-boxer who fixes up an old robot with his son and turns it into a robot boxing champion, right? Right?!
Well this, ahem, beloved classic is now being turned into a spin-off series for Disney Plus. Shawn Levy, who directed the recent comedy hit Free Guy, was the director of Real Steel and is on board the series as executive producer.
The story was co-written by Dan Gilroy – the writer of Tarsem Singh’s The Fall, The Bourne Legacy and Kong: Skull Island. And Hugh Jackman clearly loves a robot because he went on to star in Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie in 2015.
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Anthony Mackie could return for the series, after recently doing the Falcon and the Winter Soldier Marvel spin-off show for Disney Plus.
Should the Real Steel series move forward, it would be the latest attempt by Disney Plus to mine existing movie IP under the media giant’s umbrella as a new streaming series.
In addition to the successful Marvel and Star Wars series that have already aired on Disney Plus, the streamer also has shows like The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and upcoming fare like The Spiderwick Chronicles, National Treasure, and Willow.
If you want to find out more about what’s available on Disney Plus, check out our guide to everything new on the service in January.