The revival of Aaron McGruder's animated series The Boondocks has found a home at HBO Max.
The WarnerMedia streaming platform has ordered two "reimagined" seasons — 24 episodes in all — of the show. It is set to premiere in fall 2020 with a 50-minute special. All 55 previous episodes of The Boondocks will be available on HBO Max when the service launches in the spring.
"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,'" Kevin Reilly, chief content officer for HBO Max and president of TBS, TNT and TruTV, said Wednesday in a statement. "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."
Sony Pictures Animation announced a reboot of the series in June at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. It will produce the show in partnership with Sony Pictures TV.
Based on McGruder's comic strip, The Boondocks debuted on Adult Swim in 2005 and aired four seasons (the last of which was made without McGruder's involvement), ending in 2014. The new seasons will follow Robert "Granddad" Freeman and his two grandsons, Huey and Riley, as they move to an idyllic suburban community in Maryland — only to see it taken over by the tyrannical Uncle Ruckus and his bizarre neo-fascist regime. (McGruder teased the story in a new comic strip earlier this year.)
"There’s a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again for today," said McGruder. "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.”
McGruder will serve as showrunner and executive produce with Norm Aladjem for Mainstay Entertainment, Seung Kim and Meghann Collins Robertson.
The Boondocks is the second original animated series to land at HBO Max, joining a Gremlins prequel. The service is set to launch in spring 2020 and will feature originals and library content including The Big Bang Theory (which secured a massive payday for its first-ever streaming agreement), Game of Thrones, Friends and other shows and movies from WarnerMedia's properties.