A Max Headroom reboot is in the works at AMC Networks, with Matt Frewer set to return to his role as the world’s first artificial intelligence TV star. The science fiction satire aired on ABC from 1987 to 1988 and is set in a futuristic dystopia where television runs the world, turning it off is illegal, and even the government works under the hands of powerful network executives. Edison Carter, an investigative journalist on a mission to expose the corruption of these media giants, copies his mind into a computer to create a digital version of himself that will bring the system down – Max Headroom.
Deadline reports that AMC Networks is developing a reboot of the series, with Frewer reprising his role as Max Headroom and Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell set to write the adaptation. Cantwell most recently worked as executive producer on Prime Video sci-fi drama Paper Girls. Among the revival’s producers are Cantwell, Frewer, and Lord of the Rings trilogy star Elijah Wood.
For fans of 80s pop culture, the announcement of Max Headroom is a treat. Before Max got his own series, he was already a cultural phenomenon thanks to the 1985 cyberpunk movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future. The character exploded into every corner of entertainment and went on to be featured on the cover of Newsweek, star in ads for New Coke, and host a music video show all before his primetime series made its debut. Now in 2022, the number of ways a Max Headroom reboot can expand on the razor-sharp commentary of its parent series is truly infinite.
Source: Deadline