One of the most unexpectedly popular movies of the pandemic’s first year was Shawn Levy and Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel, which found a massive new lease of life among audiences on Netflix.
The robot boxing family drama was a decent-sized hit back when it was first released in 2011, but it positively exploded on streaming. The movie spent weeks entrenched at the very top of the platform’s most-watched list, leading to widespread clamor for a sequel that was addressed by Levy, Jackman, Anthony Mackie, and Evangeline Lilly.
In news that’s going to make a lot of people very happy, Variety reveals that an episodic spin on Real Steel is in the early stages of development for Disney Plus. The report mentions that it’ll be based on the feature film, but doesn’t make it clear whether we’re talking about remaking the story for the small screen, or if it’s a continuation set in the same world.
Either way, it’s the latest attempt by the Mouse House to prove that it can thrive in delivering high-profile exclusive TV content that doesn’t rely on the Marvel Cinematic Universe of Star Wars for inspiration, and you can guarantee that Real Steel will find a huge audience whenever it lands, which unfortunately isn’t going to be for a while.
