Max Headroom is catching a wave into the 21st century. More than three decades after his last TV series went off the air, Deadline reports that AMC is developing a reboot with Matt Frewer reprising his role as the world’s first computer-generated TV presenter.
Frewer made his first appearance as the character in the 1985 TV movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future. In the film, which took place in a futuristic cyberpunk world ruled by corrupt corporations, Frewer starred as Edison Carter, a journalist who wanted to expose an evil TV network. While fleeing from the station’s headquarters on a motorcycle, Carter crashed into a barrier labeled “Max. Headroom 2.3m” and suffered a head injury.
To cover up the accident, one of the network’s lackeys attempted to create a digital copy of Carter’s likeness. But the resulting artificial intelligence develops its own personality and begins calling itself Max Headroom. Eventually, Max becomes a host on a pirate TV station, where he delivers quick-witted social commentary amid constant glitching.
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20 Minutes into the Future later spawned two TV shows and even a series of New Coke ads featuring Max as the spokesman, effectively cementing his place as an icon of ‘80s pop culture. In 2007 and 2008, Frewer returned to play an older version of the character in new commercials for England’s Channel 4. He also made a cameo in Pixels in 2015.
The upcoming reboot hails from writer and showrunner Christopher Cantwell, who previously co-created AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire. Cantwell has also written several comics for Marvel, including the current volume of Iron Man. Most recently, Cantwell served as an executive producer on Amazon’s Paper Girls adaptation, which officially premiered today.
Cantwell and Frewer will executive produce the Max Headroom reboot alongside SpectreVision’s Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah. All3Media, who hold the rights to the character, are also producing the show.
What are your hopes for a Max Headroom reboot series? Let us know in the comment section below!
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