Back in 2019, HBO Max had given a two-season, 24-episode order to the beloved satire animated series known as The Boondocks from creator Aaron McGruder and Sony Pictures Animation. But now deadline reports that Huey and Riley Freeman will not be making their return to HBO Max.
HBO Max’s new Boondocks, which was set to launch in fall 2020 with a 50-minute special, would have followed 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.
It's being said that Sony is currently evaluating other options for the project.
The original Boondocks animated series, is based on the comic strip created by McGruder, aired on the company’s Adult Swim from 2005 to 2014. The series earned McGruder a Peabody Award.
McGruder was set to return as showrunner and serve as executive producer along with Norm Aladjem for Mainstay Entertainment as well as Seung Kim and Meghann Collins Robertson. Sony Pictures Animation was to produce the series in partnership with Sony Pictures Television.
The Boondocks voice actor Cedric Yarbrough, who voiced Tom DuBois in the original series, spoke about the reboot’s fate earlier this week on the Geekset Podcast.
“I hate to say this…right now the show is not coming back. We’ve been wanting to do the show and Sony and its…they decided they’re going to pull the plug,” he told the podcast host Rudy Strong. “Hopefully one day we’ll be able to revisit it…I wish the show was coming back.”
In addition to Yarbrough, The Boondocks‘ original voice cast featured Regina King, the late John Witherspoon, Gary Anthony Williams and Jill Talley.