Kevin Smith Says He’s Working on a ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ TV Series
Even Kevin Smith had to admit his surprise at overwhelmingly positive reception for his episode of The Flash, and the gig may yet continue to bear fruit. The Yoga Hosers director says MGM has approached him for an Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension TV series, one of his personal favorites.
Smith offered up the surprising tidbit in his Hollywood Babble-On podcast, first noting how taken aback he was at the show of support to emerge from his Flash episode:
I’ve never fucking done anything in my life that had more people saying, holy shit, good job! Like 22-year career, man. Not even in the beginning, when they liked me and shit.
In particular, Smith noted that the gig had opened some “weird doors” for him, as MGM reached out to his agent to discuss the possibility of a Buckaraoo Banzai series, similar to how they’d adapted Fargo. Smith suggested that a first season might cover the events of the film, with a second adapting the Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League promised by the first movie’s credits, but never produced.
For those unfamiliar with the 1984 film, Buckaroo Banzai follows Banzai (Peter Weller) as his Jet Car experiment unwittingly opens a dimensional gateway to a battle between alien races the Red and Black Lectroids. In addition to Weller, the cast also featured John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Clancy Brown, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd and others.
Smith also claimed that they’d officially start shopping the series as of next month, with several interested outlets, but watch the original Buckaroo Banzai trailer below, and judge for yourself.