In March 2007,
WowWee, the company that makes the toy
Robosapien, announced that it planned to produce a feature film about the toy that would combine live-action and computer-generated elements. WowWee entered a partnership with Arad Productions, run by producer
Avi Arad, who was interested in Robosapien since the toy debuted.
Time reported the planned film as part of a growing trend to make films based on toys, citing the 2007 releases
Transformers and
Bratz: The Movie. Arad took an active role in developing the lead character for the film. He worked very closely with Art Director Shane Nakamura and the design team at WowWee. In August 2008, feature film rights were officially sold by WowWee to producer duo Arad and
Steven Paul, the latter producing films under
Crystal Sky Pictures. The film was revealed to be titled
Robosapien: Rebooted, and in the negotiation, WowWee reserved the worldwide right to market toys related to the film and to receive a portion of returns for other merchandise related to the film.
Sean McNamara was hired to direct the film. Filming took place in
New Orleans in 2008 from March 24-April 25. The city was chosen because Arad became familiar with it when he attended
National Association of Television Program Executives conventions there in the 1980s and 1990s. He also chose the city to take advantage of tax breaks and its scenery; the story was also rewritten so it would recognizably take place in New Orleans. In September 2010, Arc Productions (formerly Starz Animation) joined the project with Crystal Sky and Arad Productions. ==Release==