Tired of being all about the ‘Bad Robots’, it looks like JJ. Abrams is going to produce a movie about a good robot called Boilerplate. At least I think he’s good.

“Boilerplate”: History’s Mechanical Marvel, is a graphic novel picture book by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. It tells the story of the world’s first robot, who fought in historical battles across two centuries, journeyed to the south pole and dabbled in the silent movie business (as one does), before mysteriously disappearing during World War I.

According to Hollywood Reporter, Paramount picked up the rights to Boilerplate for an adaptation to be produced by Abrams.

For a better idea of how Boilerplate might translate to the big screen, check out this trailer for the graphic novel. I don’t know about you, but conceptually I find the idea appealing, and very much want to scratch beneath old Boilerplate’s metal surface to see what makes him tick. Hopefully Bad Robot can bring it to life.

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Here’s a quick round-up of some of the recent news stories relating to Bad Robot Productions.

The first 20 pages of JJ. Abrams new NBC Spy Drama -- Undercovers - has been leaked online. Personally I’m going to wait for the real thing before spoiling myself. io9 have more, along with this sexay new promo photo featuring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

According to Michael Vartan the rumors about ABC and JJ. Abrams planning to reboot Alias are phoney (scifi wire):

“I heard rumors of it, and to be honest with you, I find it absolutely preposterous,” Vartan said in a conference call on June 7, while he was promoting the medical drama Hawthorne. “I’m still young enough to run down a hallway, and so is Jennifer [Garner]. What is this nonsense of recasting Alias? Give us 20 years at least. How dare they?”

“It just feels a little soon to reboot Alias,” Vartan continued. “But hey, you know what? Stranger things have happened, so we’ll just have to wait and see. The one little thing I heard is that it would be with a new cast, which I find kind of weird, because like I said, we’re all still young enough to do that.”

While Greg Grundberg believes an Alias 2.0 simply wouldn’t work without Jenifer Garner (zap2it):

“I like to think that I’m not replaceable,” he jokes. “But in honestly, the one person that really made that show what it was, that’s Jennifer [Garner]. She’s so much the face of ‘Alias’ that it would be impossible to reproduce the success of the show without her.”

Former Lost Director Jack Bender finds feature deal with Bad Robot (hollywood reporter):

The one-year first-look development deal would have Bender developing projects and helming a pilot for Warner Bros. Television next spring. While several ideas are being discussed, none has yet been locked down.

It looks like Bender is in fact formalizing a similar one-year feature deal with Bad Robot to develop and direct a film for Paramount. It will either be an original Bender idea or a project already in the BR cache (some to consider include the top-secret Travis Beacham script, “Mystery on Fifth Avenue,” the untitled earthquake project and the fact-baseddiamond heist story that Phil Alden Robinson just came on to write).

Official trailer for Bad Robot’s “Morning Glory“. Is this Felicity for the big screen? It kinda has those vibes:

Synopsis:

When hard–working TV producer Becky Fuller (McAdams) is fired from a local news program, her career begins to look as bleak as her hapless love life. Stumbling into a job at “Daybreak” (the last–place national morning news show), Becky decides to revitalize the show by bringing on legendary TV anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford). Unfortunately, Pomeroy refuses to cover morning show staples like celebrity gossip, weather, fashion and crafts – let alone work with his new co–host, Colleen Peck (Keaton), a former beauty queen and longtime morning show personality who is more than happy covering morning “news.” As Mike and Colleen clash, first behind the scenes and then on the air, Becky’s blossoming love affair with fellow producer, Adam Bennett (Wilson) begins to unravel – and soon Becky is struggling to save her relationship, her reputation, her job and ultimately, the show itself.

And finally, for now, JJ. Abrams heist movie gets Field Of Dreams writer, Phil Alden Robinson (heat vision blog):

Phil Alden Robinson, who wrote and directed “Field of Dreams,” has been given the keys to J.J. Abrams’ untitled heist project set up at Paramount.

Robinson will write the script for the project, which is based on a Wired magazine article titled “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist,” by Joshua Davis.

JJ. Abrams new spy drama, Undercovers, has been picked up by NBC.

I had been following developments on Undercovers fairly closely in 2009 but for one reason or another it fell off my radar. I’m interested to see what Abrams and company will do with this show – it’s definitely a change from his more recent material. I can’t say that I’m as eager for it to start as I am with other projects involving Bad Robot Productions, but I’ll give it a chance.

Above you can find (what I believe to be) the first official promotional picture for the show featuring both leads, Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

I often wonder where JJ. Abrams finds the time to be involved in so many high profile projects. OK, so he’s not as involved in Lost as he was when it first started, but his active and pending projects include overseeing FOX’s Fringe and launching NBC’s spy-drama Undercovers, not to mention the looming Mission Impossible 4, Star Trek sequel and “Morning Glory” movies. According to the rumour mill, you can now add a movie collaboration with Steven Spielberg to that list.

Vulture says that Abrams will direct a homage and collaborate with Steven Spielberg on a movie described as “a tip of the hat to [Spielberg’s] movies of the 70’s and early 80’s”.

In typical Abrams style details on both the plot and title are top secret, although like many of Spielberg and Abrams previous projects, the movie will apparently deal with normal people whose relationships are put to the test by extraordinary and fantastical (“other-worldly”) events. The movie may also be relatively low budget – “It’s kind of the anti-Avatar,” chirped a source, “Not that [J.J.] doesn’t love that movie or special effects movies – he has a real facility for effects. But he really wants to make this, and the way to do that is to be fiscally responsible.”

Spielberg’s role is also fairly hush-hush but sources claim he will be involved in some capacity, possibly as an advisor or executive producer. It seems that Abrams will set out to make this a personal tribute to Spielberg.

Not to put a dampener on things, but this story should still be classified as ‘unconfirmed’ for the time being, as both Paramount and Dreamworks have apparently denied knowledge of a new JJ. Abrams movie project. I’m really curious about this project and to see  Abrams’ interpretation of Spielberg’s classics. I hope it’s true.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe, Star Trek, Transformers, M:I3) will be exec producing an updated version of Hawaii Five-O for CBS.

The Hollywood Reporter has more:

“Hawaii Five-O” is a go.

CBS has greenlighted an updated version of the classic cop series from hot feature scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and “CSI: NY” executive producer Peter Lenkov.

The project, from CBS Studios, scored a sizable commitment when it landed at CBS in October.

It is described as an updated take on the original series that is centered on an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police headed by Steve McGarrett and answerable only to the governor.

The classic procedural, created by Leonard Freeman, ran on CBS from 1968-80 and became famous for its opening music and for its staple “Book ‘em, Danno” closing line.

Kurtzman and Orci co-wrote the story for the pilot with Lenkov, who penned the script under their supervision. All three are executive producing.

CBS and CBS Studios, which has the rights to “Hawaii Five-O,” first took a stab at developing a contemporary take last season with “Criminal Minds” executive producer/showrunner Ed Bernero.

Here’s the trailer for the original Hawaii Five-O:

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Ben Schwartz has joined the cast of NBC’s Undercovers as a CIA agent, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Schwartz,  joins Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe and Gerald McRaney on the cast of JJ. Abrams pilot:

Schwartz will play a young CIA agent who is wildly respectful of Steve’s career as an agent.

Schwartz, a sketch performer for the Upright Citizens Brigade, was a member of the team that won an Emmy for writing Hugh Jackman’s opening number at the Oscars last year.

As an actor, he recently wrapped the feature comedy “The Other Guys.”

JJ. Abrams search for his leading lady in Undercovers is over. British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star opposite Boris Kodjoe in NBC’s new husband and wife spy drama. Here’s more on Mbatha-Raw, via THR:

Mbatha-Raw, a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, broke through during the summer when she was cast as Ophelia opposite Jude Law in the Donmar Warehouse production of “Hamlet,” which had successful runs in London’s West End and on Broadway.

The daughter of a South African doctor and an English nurse, Mbatha-Raw hasn’t appeared on American TV but has done arcs on several popular British series including “Spooks” and “Doctor Who.”

Zoe Saldana, who played Uhura in JJ. Abrams Star Trek reboot, recently spoke to MTV while promoting Avatar and gave a tiny update on the Trek sequel:

“I spoke to J.J. and Bryan Burk, his producing partner at Bad Robot, and they are still in the middle of building the script with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, and we’ll probably be going into pre-production around this time next year.”

Meanwhile, the movie has been revealed as the most pirated movie of 2009, with well over 10 million downloads, making its box office success all the more remarkable.

NBC’s Undercovers now has an official website and twitter account to help promote the show online. Undercoversweb.com is just a splash page right now but expect it to be updated with news, sneak peaks and promotional material in 2010. Head past the jump for more.

Undercovers, co-written by JJ. Abrams and Josh Reims (pilot to be directed by Abrams), is about a husband and wife undercover spy team and has already bagged male lead Boris Kodjoe as one half of the married spy couple and  Gerald McRaney as their CIA handler.

Here’s the first Undercovers promotional art featuring Boris Kodjoe and the tagline “I promise not to kill you..Till death do us part”:

The Undercovers twitter account suggests that the show will be heading to Comic Con in the summer of 2010. No surprise there, Comic Con has become a promotional breeding ground for new shows wanting to capture the attention and imagination of potential fans – two other Bad Robot productions, LOST and Fringe can vouch for that.

The casting of Gerald McRaney for JJ. Abrams NBC Pilot, Undercovers, has been swiftly followed by the addition of Boris Kodjoe who has landed the male lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kodjoe, who appeared in Surragates and is probably best known for his role on Soulfood, will play one half of an undercover spy couple.