Hackers have been in the news a lot lately, which means the timing is perfect for a new drama series about all of the badass stuff that hackers do. According to Deadline, USA has picked up such a show, and not only will it continue America’s love affair with hackers, but it will hopefully reignite America’s old love affair with Christian Slater. Tentatively titled Mr. Robot, the series will be an “intense hacker drama” that focuses on a young guy named Elliot—played by Night At The Museum‘s Rami Malek—who “can only connect to people by hacking them” thanks to his “debilitating anti-social disorder.” Hopefully, the “hacking them” thing means stealing information from their computers and not, you know, hitting them with an axe.
Eventually, Elliot gets discovered by “a mysterious anarchist” named Mr. Robot. Slater, who USA describes as “perfectly cast,” plays the eponymous Mr. Robot—which we first reported on back in October. Unfortunately, it sounds like Slater’s character is just a human nerd and not an actual robot, though a show about a kid who murders people with an axe and has a best friend robot does sound fantastic. The pilot was directed by Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the non-David Fincher version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, as well as the pilot for Under The Dome. At least we know it will look cool if Mr. Robot has to cut any cows in half.