Paramount Players (‘What Men Want’, ‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’) has picked up the film rights to the Ahoy Comics series ‘Planet of the Nerds’, to be produced by Todd Garner (‘Isn’t It Romantic?’, ‘Tag’). A search is now underway to find a writer. The comics, written by Paul Constant and illustrated by Alan Robinson, Randy Elliott and colorist Felipe Sobreiro, was first released in April and received positive reviews. A collected edition, featuring all five issues, will be released on October 29, with a foreword written by ‘Jeopardy’ champion Ken Jennings.
The series follows the exploits of three high school jocks/bullies from the 1980s (think any character played by William Zabka), who are accidentally cryogenically frozen and thawed out in “today’s computer-driven, superhero movie-loving world, now ruled by nerds, and react the only way they know how: by declaring war on the status quo.”
Here are the descriptions for the comic book issues:
Issue #1: Three high school jocks in the 1980s are accidentally frozen by an experimental cryogenics device, only to be revived in the computer-driven, superhero movie-loving world of 2019–an era ruled by nerds!
Issue #2: After the thawed-out 1980s jocks start a riot at a comic convention, they learn to their horror that everyone in 2019 uses computers like a bunch of poindexters.
Issue #3: The angry, thawed-out jocks from the 80s search the world of 2019 for the nerd who froze them. But how do you find anyone when telephone books and pay phones are extinct?
Issue #4: Feeling like misfits in 2019, the thawed-out jocks from the ‘80s hatch a plan for revenge on the rich and powerful nerd who froze them.
Issue #5: The thawed-out jocks from the ’80s fall into Alvin the nerd’s clutches as he prepares to destroy innocent lives.
Each issue also contained backup features showing the jocks in the ’80s, and other supplemental material featuring other characters in the story.
Ahoy is a new comic book publisher, having launched in 2018, and founded by Tom Peyer, formerly of DC’s now-defunct Vertigo imprint. It made waves earlier this year by picking up ‘Second Coming’, a series featuring Jesus as a sidekick to a superhero that was rejected by DC.
Did you read the comic? Does this sound like an intriguing concept for a movie? Check back for updates!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
