Matheson called 'Steel,' a fantasy/science fiction story first published in the cleverly titled Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Real Steel is very loosely based on a 1956 story by Richard Throughout his career, Matheson has seen his work translated into hits ( I Am Legend, which has been remade for film no fewer than three times in the past 50 years) and misses (the syrupy Robin Williams adaptation of What Dreams May Come). If Matheson's name doesn't immediately register, his pedigree might.
Hollywood's penchant for turning board games into films lately may lead audiences to assume Real Steel comes from Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, but to find its actual genesis, you need to turn to another, unlikelier source that Hollywood has routinely mined for ideas: sci-fi writer Richard Matheson. But someone actually thought to combine the two long ago.
