This past Christmas, someone gave me a copy of Daniel Wilson’s book “How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion”. I thought it was a reasonably amusing faux guide to recognizing and neutralizing cybernetic threats (as well as a practical intro to basic real-world robotics), and then I shoved it on the shelf along with the Government Manual for New Superheroes, How To Be a Villain and the Zombie Survival Guide.

At no point did I think it’d make a splendid starring vehicle for former funnyman turned tiresome ogre Mike Myers, but Paramount obviously thought differently. They got Reno 911 creators (and ex-members of the lamented MTV show The State) Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant to pen a script based on the book, which probably wasn’t too easy since there’s really no story in it whatsoever. These guys have been going nuts with the high-profile screenwriting gigs since they wrote Herbie: Fully Loaded — the comedies A Night at the Museum, Balls of Fury and a Reno 911 feature are all on the way.

In Robot Uprising, Myers will apparently play a “technical administrator who has the thankless job of sounding warnings against the growing presence of robots and researching ways to keep those robots from taking over”, and Mike De Luca will produce. Hey, whatever prevents another perilously unfunny Austin Powers movie…