It appears that Johnny 5 will be getting a reboot, and his creators will helm the ressurection. We get news of this remake thanks to the professionals at Variety:
The original introduced Number 5, a robot built by the military to be a highly sophisticated weapon. It developed a conscience and a personality after being hit by lightning, and then needed the help of humans after it was targeted for destruction by its makers, once it became a peacenik.
S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, who created the characters and wrote both “Short Circuit” films, have been hired to write the remake. David Foster and Ryan E. Heppe will produce with John Hyde. Foster, who produced the original with his partner Lawrence Turman and son Gary Foster, said the film will be similar in theme to the original, but it will factor in advances in technology.
Not a huge fan of remakes, but if one must be made… I like that the creators have been chosen to helm the project. The visionaries behind the Johnny 5 robot have had quite some time to consider their creation, and will now be able to make any changes that they deem necessary. The danger in trying to update a character is that you may change what people originally loved about them; and then you just have annoyed fans on your hands, and a bastard Johnny 5 v.2 that gets no love.
I would like to see a Short Circuit film on the farm. Johnny 5 could throw feed to chickens, shoo troublesome foxes away, milk goats and herd cattle. When the farm lands on tough times, and with the threat of impending foreclosure, Johnny 5 goes to the Nashville hoping to raise money and bail out the farm . Once in the city, Johnny gets a guitar and begins to busk on the street. His performances become the talk of the town and soon Johnny 5 finds himself on the stage of the Grande Olde Opry. His songs about clean livin’ and the tribulations of farm life open up the hearts and wallets of the audience, a 10 gallon hat is passed around raising enough money for the farm to be saved. This is the feel good film middle America needs.
With this remake in the pen awaiting creation, one question weighs heavily on my mind. Will Steve Guttenberg be back?
