Jonny Quest film director, Chris McKay, compares the movie to Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The original series began as an animated show that ran from 1964-1965, followed by The New Adventures of Jonny Quest in 1986-1987. In 1993, a TV movie was released by the name of Jonny’s Golden Quest. Most recently, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest aired from 1996-1997. The upcoming Jonny Quest will be the first return to the series in quite some time.

This iteration of the live-action movie has been announced since 2015, with McKay being attached since 2018. Robert Rodriguez (SinCity, Spy Kids) and Terry Rossio (Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean) wrote the screenplay that follows the title character’s adventures. Jonny journeys around the world with his father, Dr. Benton Quest, his friend, Hadji, Race Bannin, and his dog, Bandit. Any further Jonny Quest plot details have been kept under wraps.

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In Collider‘s interview with McKay, he spoke about his perspective of his Jonny Quest live-action film. He mentioned the scope and the story’s ability to fit into more modern studio blockbusters. Despite the movie having been announced, he stated that Warner Bros. has not officially given the project the green light to start moving. See below for McKay’s full statement:

“But it’s also very Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a world-hopping movie looking for a real-world artifact to stop a big global catastrophe. I really love the characters, and I really love the relationships in Jonny Quest. The writers did an amazing job. And I’m hoping that WB wants to make that movie really soon because it’s going to be really cool, it’s going to be a big movie like Tomorrow War, it’s going to be a big-in-scope family action movie.”

Before this iteration of the project, there was a version starring Zac Efron in the title role and Dwayne Johnson as Bannon, along with Peter Segal behind the camera. However, that project was canned. McKay’s Jonny Quest has not had much movement ever since it was announced a few years ago, so hopefully, it does not suffer the same fate. There is no word on why Warner Bros. appears to be more than a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on McKay’s movie.

Having worked on projects including the well-received The Lego Batman Movie and its canceled sequel, McKay is familiar with making a family action blockbuster. While most of his work has been in animation, The Tomorrow War is due next month and he is currently attached to Nightwing. McKay seems like he would be a good fit for bringing a live-action Jonny Quest to the big screen. This is an opportunity to deliver the nostalgic animated show to modern audiences in a way that a filmmaker like McKay would likely be successful at. Making the comparison to Raiders of the Lost Ark is a big claim, but it certainly is intriguing.

Source: Collider

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Jeff Nelson
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Jeff Nelson is a news senior writer for Screen Rant and a film critic for DVD Talk. He has worked in areas of the entertainment industry including film criticism, content acquisitions, and research. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema & Television with an emphasis in Media Management and again in 2019 with a Master’s degree in Sociology. His passion for film began by watching Titanic on repeat as a child until the dual-VHS tapes wore out. While he still loves big Hollywood features, his movie taste expanded to independent filmmaking, foreign, and the horror genre. Each year, he looks forward to seeing the breakout films from the festival circuit. When he isn’t watching or writing about film, Jeff is discovering new music, playing video games, and seeking out unique bars and restaurants to try. Follow Jeff on Twitter @SirJeffNelson.

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