Avi Arad, the former Marvel Studio executive and producer of the “X-Men” and “Spider-Man” franchises, has joined forces with Steven Paul’s Crystal Sky Pictures to launch a movie inspired by Robosapien, the best-selling intelligent robot.
Variety says Arad has written the script for Robosapien with Max Botkin, and attached Bratz helmer Sean McNamara to direct. The $25 million-$30 million live-action/CGI project is scheduled to shoot November in the U.S.
The story concerns a scientist working on artificial intelligence who creates robots for humanitarian purposes, only to discover that the corporation he works for intends them for military use. He steals one of his creations, a robot boy named Toby, who, by a series of accidents, gets lost and broken, and then found and fixed by the lonely 11-year-old son of a harassed single mother.
The robot and boy become friends, and embark on a series of adventures, pursued by the authorities, climaxing with them having to rescue the scientist and the mother from prison.
Arad, whose own background is as a toy inventor, has personally designed Toby as the latest model in the Robosapiens range, to go into shops alongside the movie’s release.
