J.J. Abrams producing a Victorian robot movie

Heat Vision are reporting that Paramount has picked up the rights to Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, a graphic novel-picture book which tells the story of the world’s first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Terry 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.

J.J. Abrams, who has a good relationship with Paramount thanks to the success of Cloverfield and Star Trek, will produce with his Bad Robot production company. You can watch the trailer for the Boilerplate graphic novel below:

Apparently some people started believing the robot and its history to be true, and bombard the official website which the creators set up to drum up interest in the graphic novel.

This is definitely an interesting project, one that I will be keeping my eye on as it develops.