Earlier this year it was confirmed that Sony Pictures Animation was working on a reimagining of Aaron McGruder’s animated comedy series The Boondocks, and now comes word that the project has secured a two season order from Warner’s new HBO Max streaming service.
“The Boondocks was a revolutionary series that sparked conversations on hot button issues and brought dark subjects into the light with episodes like ‘The Trial of Robert Kelly’, ‘The Fundraiser’ and ‘The Story of Gangstalicious’,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer of HBO Max and President, TBS, TNT and truTV. “Aaron is a gifted visionary whose unique style of storytelling is a welcome voice and we are elated The Freemans are making their thugnificent comeback on HBO Max.”
“There’s a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again for today,” added McGruder, who will serve as showrunner on the new seasons, “It’s crazy how different the times we live in are now – both politically and culturally – more than a decade past the original series and two decades past the original newspaper comic. There’s a lot to say and it should be fun.”
As per Deadline, the new series “follows the adventures of self-proclaimed ‘Civil Rights Legend’ Robert ‘Granddad’ Freeman, and his two rambunctious grandsons Huey and Riley. The family has recently moved to an idyllic community in suburban Maryland only to see it taken over by the tyrannical Uncle Ruckus and his bizarre neo-fascist regime. Life under Ruckus turns out to be an everyday struggle to survive.”
Based on his own comic strip, McGruder’s The Boondocks originally ran for 55 episodes across four seasons between 2005 and 2014, all of which will also be available to stream on HBO Max.
Originally published September 23, 2019. Updated September 22, 2019.
