A Revenge of the Nerds reboot is in the works at 20th Century Studios, courtesy of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane will be producing through his Fuzzy Door production company; while twin brothers Keith and Kenny Lucas (22 Jump Street), will be both writing and starring in the reboot, with Rick and Morty‘s Alex Rubens co-writing the script. Instead of trying to re-tread the path of the original Revenge of the Nerds (which has aged pretty terribly), this reboot will take a page from the Jump Street series, by taking a look at the tropes of the original from a more modern perspective.
In the case of Revenge of the Nerds, this new film will apparently “pontificate about today’s nerd culture and what even constitutes a geek in the 21st century,” according to Variety. You can check out the synopsis for the original Revenge of the Nerds, below:
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“When lovable nerds Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine) embark on their freshman year at Adams College, little do they realize the dangers that await them. They are beset by taunting from the jocks of Alpha Beta fraternity, which only worsens when the jocks accidentally burn down their house and toss the freshmen out of the freshmen dorm. To make matters more problematic, Lewis develops a crush on pretty Betty Childs (Julia Montgomery), popular sorority sister and quarterback’s girlfriend. Joined by the aptly named Booger (Curtis Armstrong) and the violin-playing Poindexter (Timothy Busfield), the nerds soon realize they must form their own fraternity in self-defense. Soon the tables are turned as the nerds employ high-tech warfare against the jocks…. but can they really succeed and make a difference?”
Revenge of the Nerds’ core concept has clearly aged out, as the concept of nerds and jocks has gotten flipped nearly upside down in the 21st century. Geek has become the new chic, while modern kids look at old jock stereotypes as comically outdated. As stated, the Jump Street reboot found smart ways to examine those cultural transitions in a comedic way – hopefully, this new Revenge of the Nerds can do the same.
The real question is whether MacFarlane and the Lucas twins will address some of the more controversial aspects of the original Revenge of the Nerds. The first film included plot points like the nerds giving away nude pictures of the college sorority girls to win a fundraiser; and a scene where one nerd impersonates the frat boy antagonist and has sex with his girlfriend. In an era after the “Me Too” movement, that’s a pretty dark “joke” that should be called out.
We’ll keep you updated on the Revenge of the Nerds reboot.
