Warner brothers has selected The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay to helm their planned live action Johnny Quest film.
The project is set to be an adaptation of the Hannah-Barbera produced animated series which initially ran on ABC from 1964 to 1965. Drawing inspiration from old-time radio series like Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy, juvenile pulp heroes like Tom Swift and the Milton Caniff comic strip Terry and the Pirates, the show centered on its titular pre-teen hero, who traveled the world with his scientist father Benton Quest, his adopted brother Hadji and the family’s bodyguard Race Bannon. They are frequently the target of the schemes of the evil scientist Dr. Zin.
Studios have been trying to bring Johnny Quest to the big screen for over twenty years. Initially in the mid-1990s, director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Schuler Donner had optioned the film rights and brought Monster Squad screenwriter Fred Dekker on board to script. Ultimately, though, the project never went forward. In 2009, Dwayne Johnson claimed he was going to star in a Johnny Quest adaptation as Race Bannon opposite Zac Effron as Johnny, but it was unclear as to who was supposedly making the film. Not that it mattered as nothing came of that iteration either.
In 2015, Robert Rodriguez was announced to be directing a live-action Johnny Quest and that he would co-author the screenplay with Pirates Of The Caribbean screenwriter Terry Rossio. Dan Mazeau also worked on the script for this version. With McKay coming in it is unclear if further rewrites or even a completely brand new screenplay will be done.
No release date for the film has been announced.
