It’s a huge blow to hear that Sam Esmail’s series adaptation of the classic 1927 Fritz Lang sci-fi film Metropolis has been shut down and will not be revisited.
The series had been in development for years, and was one of Apple TV+’s more highly anticipated projects in the works.
Esmail is well known for Mr. Robot and the series was due to begin filming this summer.
Deadline‘s reporting of this news reads:
Metropolis has become one of the highest-profile casualties of the growing uncertainty in Hollywood driven by labor unrest against the background of economic headwinds.
One of the studio’s reps said: “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision.”
It makes sense when you look into it further and find out the scripts for Metropolis weren’t even fully written before the writer’s strike came into play. Turns out the project has just been stagnant for the past seven weeks, which has delayed other vital parts of pre-production.
Because of the timing, UCP was faced with rising costs related to pushing the start of production, building and holding expansive stages, labor an VFX work — while not knowing when filming could begin due to the writers strike (and the prospect of a potential SAG-AFTRA strike). After evaluating the money spent so far and the risk of going forward, UCP opted to not proceed with the series and notified their partners at Apple TV+.
What a downright shame. What an awful waste. (Read that in Mrs Lovett’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ accent)
I know there was a lot of excitement about this show, and it sounds like a kick in the teeth for Esmail, and the entire team behind it – this had been in the works for seven years, and would have meant nearly 4,000 jobs.
Is there any way this project can somehow be revived, in some form, at a later date? I very much hope so, but for now the outlook is bleak.
Just like the original film, this series adaptation was all set to “take place in a future society where wealthy industrialists rule the vast city from high-rise tower complexes, while a lower class of underground-dwelling workers toil constantly to operate the machines that provide its power. Risking everything they know, two star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the divide must find a way to bring down the whole system.”
It was set to star Briana Middleton and Lindy Booth.
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