AMC is reportedly looking to reboot Max Headroom, with original star Max Frewer set to reprise his role as “the first computer-generated TV presenter”.
According to Deadline, Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell is writing the adaptation and is attached as showrunner, while the drama series will be produced by Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah’s SpectreVision and All3Media.
Originally introduced in 1985 via the hour-long British cyberpunk movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future, Headroom was rumoured to be an AI creation, but was actually Frewer in heavy prosthetics, performing in front of a green screen to give the illusion of CGI.
According to his creators, Max’s personality was meant to be a satirical exaggeration of the worst tendencies of television hosts in the 1980s, who aimed to appeal to youth culture despite not being a part of it.
Following 20 Minutes Into The Future, Headroom went on to host his own music show (The Max Headroom Show) before starring in the ABC drama Max Headroom, which ran for two seasons before being cancelled in 1987.
Headroom even had his own video game, created by developers Binary Design for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum before being ported to the Commodore 64, Amstrad, and Amiga consoles.
Since then, Headroom has been parodied by Eminem in his video for ‘Rap God’, and Muse in their clip for ‘Dig Down’. The character has also been referenced by Bojack Horseman and appeared briefly in the 2015 film Pixels.
A launch date is yet to be confirmed by AMC.
In recent weeks, the boss of AMC has said the “door is always open” for another Breaking Bad spin-off following Better Call Saul.
Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks, shared his hopes that another show from creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould will come to fruition to expand the Breaking Bad universe, saying he would do “anything” to make it happen.
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