Sam Esmail’s Series Adaptation of METROPOLIS Has Been Shut Down and Is Not Moving Forward
Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) has been developing an ambitious series adaptation of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis. He’s been developing this project for years, and it’s become one of the more anticipated projects from Apple TV+. That project is now dead.
According to Deadline, “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.” It’s been permanently shut down and the crew has been notified that the project will not move forward with production. It was supposed to start shooting this summer!
A rep for the studio explained: “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision.” The scripts for the series weren’t able to be completed before the writer’s strike launched, so the project has just kind of been sitting in limbo over the past seven weeks. That delayed setting budgets and other key elements of pre-production.
It’s explained: “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+.”
This is a big bummer! I was very excited about this show and there’s no doubt that the creative team and crew are heartbroken by the decision. This has been a passion project for Esmail, and he’s been working on the eight-episode series for more than seven years. The production would have created nearly 4,000 jobs for people, and it would have made use of one of the world’s largest ‘virtual production’ facilities.
Like the original film, this series adaptation “will 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.”
The story is set in “a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master.”
Briana Middleton and Lindy Booth were set to star in the series. There’s no word on if the project will be shopped around to other studios in an attempt to try again when the strike is over.