Family Guy Creator Seth MacFarlane Rebooting Revenge Of The Nerds - Report

Seth MacFarlane is reportedly the driving force behind an upcoming--and still very early--reboot of the formative '80s comedy Revenge of the Nerds, according to Variety. MacFarlane will be producing alongside Fuzzy Door Productions' Erica Huggins. Keith and Kenny Lucas, also known collectively as the The Lucas Brothers--who are identical twin comedians, actors, and writers--will be writing and starring in the reboot. Also helping with the writing will be Alex Rubens (Rick and Morty, Key and Peele).

A pivotal word here is "reboot," meaning that the planned film will not be a straight remake. The Revenge of the Nerds is being described as a "contemporary reimagining that will pontificate about today's nerd culture and what even constitutes a geek in the 21st century." It's a good question, though this introspection also indicates that this film will not share the 1984 original's fondness for sexual assault jokes--just to name one of many problematic examples of elements that will likely not make the cut in the 21st century. MacFarlane at the helm here telegraphs there will be a savviness with handling potentially controversial material.

The Revenge of the Nerds films spanned a quadrilogy from 1984 to 1994, and technically spawned an unofficial reboot already in the American Pie franchise. American Pie Presents: Beta House is a 2007 inversion of the original American Pie, portraying the jocks as being oppressed by the nerds because of their future earning potential as coders--leaving the jocks without dates and eager to retaliate.

This year, MacFarlane is in the mood to revisit and bring back older works. Earlier this year, it was announced that the Family Guy creator will also be adapting The Winds of War and War and Remembrance--a series of World War II novels for NBCUniversal.