J.J. Abrams to bring us a Victorian-era robot tale with Boilerplate

J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot are, appropriately, preparing to tell the story of the “world’s first robot” – Boilerplate.

Abrams will produce the adaptation based on the graphic novel-picture book hybrid Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett.

According to THR’s Heat Vision, BOILERPLATE “purports to tell the story of the world’s first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I.”

The book tells Boilerplate’s tale by inserting the robot into images drawn in the style of the age. Creator Paul Guinan originally pitched the idea on a website over a decade ago, hoping to garner interest to make the graphic novel. The site eventually took a life of its own as people began to actually believe the robot and its history were real. Today, we call these people “morons”.

Below is a trailer for the Boilerplate book. It’s cute.