Real Steel director Shawn Levy reveals that the upcoming Disney+ spin-off series has finally "heard a take that takes the lore of the movie and does some really exciting things with it." In an exclusive interview with Collider’s own Steven Weintraub for the Night at the Museum animated sequel, Levy also underlined he’s taking all the time he needs during early development to ensure the series respect the movie’s mythology.
In 2011, Levy directed Real Steel, a sci-fi movie set in a future where people build robots that they can use as proxies in boxing matches. The film follows Hugh Jackman as a washed-up boxer who reconnects with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) while building a new robot they train to become a champion. While Real Steel tells a self-contained story about relieving your days of glory and sharing your passions with family, the universe Levy has helped to build offers much more to be explored. After all, the idea of people using robots to scale sports violence while avoiding physical injury could be reused for many more stories.
We are excited about the upcoming Real Steel spinoff, so when we sat down with Levy, we had to ask how development was going. According to the director, the series “Is in very active and promising development. I'm really excited about the ideas that we're exploring. But as you can tell from my cagey words, I can't yet tell you about the writer or timeline.” While that doesn’t sound like a big reveal, the last time we talked with Levy, he was still looking for a writer. So, the fact a writer has already been involved means the Real Steel series has taken some meaningful steps toward release.
Shawn Levy Took a Long Time Before Choosing a Writer for the Real Steel Series
While there’s already a writer involved with the Real Steel series, Levy confesses that early development was prolonged due to his overprotectiveness of the franchise. As a result, Levy says he had to listen to many pitches before being presented with the idea that respected the world he built. As he explains it:
“But I will say that we heard a lot of pitches. And I realized, over the course of those pitches, that I am fiercely protective of ‘Real Steel.’ I'd rather make no show than the wrong show. And I finally heard a take that takes the lore of the movie and does some really exciting things with it. I'm finally getting really excited about where we're headed.”
There’s no release date for the Real Steel series, and since the show is still in the first stages of development, we shouldn’t expect it to premiere for at least a couple of years. Levy has recently produced Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again after directing the original live-action trilogy. Kahmunrah Rises Again is currently available on Disney+.