Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is developing a reboot of Revenge of the Nerds at 20th Century Studios. Joining MacFarlane in the effort to revive the 1984 comedy film will be 22 Jump Street stars and identical twins Keith and Kenny Lucas.
Directed by Jeff Kanew from a script written by Steve Zacharias and Jeff Buhai, Revenge of the Nerds followed a group of Adams College geeks as they attempted to put an end to the bullying by the Alpha Betas fraternity and the Pi Delta Pi sorority. Though the comedy was not well-received upon its initial release, reception towards the film eventually warmed and it spawned multiple sequels from the late '80s to mid-'90s. In 2006, 20th Century Fox attempted to reboot the franchise with a new feature starring The O.C.'s Adam Brody, but the project was ultimately canceled just two weeks after production started.
Variety reports the Lucas twins will star in MacFarlane's Revenge of the Nerds reboot while also sharing screenwriting duties with Alex Rubens. The film is being spearheaded by Erica Huggins, who brought the project to the Lucas brothers and will co-produce alongside MacFarlane through Fuzzy Door Productions. The intention with the reboot is not to remake the original film, which has been criticized in recent years for aging poorly, particularly due to its depictions of rape. Instead, the new Revenge of the Nerds film will explore contemporary nerd culture and discuss what it means to be a geek in the 21st century.
Revenge of the Nerds is not the only property being rebooted by MacFarlane and Huggins. The duo is also reviving the classic Burt Reynolds film Smokey and the Bandit as a television series, with Danny McBride on board as an executive producer. The reboot is said to be inspired by drive-in double-features of the '70s and '80s while also offering a new take on the material.
Needless to say, audiences may have had their fill of reboots, even if the property in question could use a modern perspective. Recently, director Chris Columbus weighed in the Home Alone reboot for Disney+, noting that he does not see a need to revive films with the same longevity as the Christmas classic.
Still, at least most studios are letting significant time pass between a given reboot and the original project. HBO, on the other hand, is reportedly developing a reboot of True Blood despite the fact that the series only concluded six years ago.
Revenge of the Nerds (1984) is now available on Hulu.
Source: Variety