MTV Rebooting ‘Celebrity Deathmatch’ With Ice Cube

A reboot of Celebrity Deathmatch is reportedly on its way to MTV, this time with Ice Cube as the star.

MTV’s new studio venture is starting off by relaunching a number of popular classics for the network, and Celebrity Deathmatch just joined the slate. The show was a fan favorite from 1998 to 2002, with claymation skits mocking pop culture icons and the issues of the day. According to a report by Deadline, it will soon be back in business, with original series creator Eric Fogel along for the ride.

Fogel will reportedly executive produce the new series, though he will share showrunning duties with other EPs that have yet to be named. Ice Cube will also be an executive producer, as will his creative partner Jeff Kwatinetz, who works with him on his Cube Vision production company.

MTV reportedly intends to shop the reboot around to streaming services and premium cable outlets in 2019. The show will run on a weekly basis, and executives are reportedly hopeful that it will lead to other products, games and maybe even theatrical shows if it is successful.

“We’re excited to grow our partnership with Ice Cube and Cube Vision to reimagine this fan favorite,” said MTV, VH1 and CMT President Chris McCarthy. “Deathmatch was the meme before memes, remains a hot topic on social media and will be a smart, funny way to tackle the over-the-top rhetoric of today’s pop culture where it belongs – in the wrestling ring.”

Ice Cube offered a short statement on the announcement as well.

“Happy to once again be working with Viacom and MTV on a fan favorite like Celebrity Deathmatch and to continue our success together,” he said.

Celebrity Deathmatch is just the latest of many projects coming out of MTV Studios. The new production company will make use of MTV’s extensive catalogue of intellectual properties, including scripted and unscripted classics of the past. The company was announced back in June, and new series have been announced ever since.

One of the first major promise was a reboot of the MTV animated classic Daria. The beloved cartoon began as a spin-off from Beavis and Butthead, but has grown into a timeless emblem of teenage apathy. The studio will also recreate the unscripted series Made, and offer a live-action take on the sci-fi cartoon Aeon Flux.

MTV Studios has already made a deal to air a reboot of The Real World on Facebook, as the platform continues its efforts to host original content.

As for Celebrity Deathmatch, there is no telling where it will air or when it will be available, as the deal seems to be in the very early stages. However, all parties involved seem excited to revive a classic show that fostered so much influential talent in the early 2000s.