“Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail’s long-in-the-works, big-budget TV series adaptation of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 sci-fi film “Metropolis” is dead according to Deadline.
The eight-episode Apple TV+ series had been prepping to begin filming shortly in Melbourne, Australia, with “The Tender Bar” star Briana Middleton playing the lead role and Lindy Booth in a supporting role. It was to make use of one of the world’s largest permanent LED volumes.
It has now been permanently shut down, with the crew having just been notified of the project’s termination. The scrapping makes it one of the highest-profile casualties of the growing uncertainty in Hollywood at this time with the ongoing writer’s strike, looming potential actor’s strike, and economic downturn.
A rep for the production company Universal Content Productions (UCP) tells the trade: “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision”.
The project was already in stasis as the scripts for the series were not finished before the writer’s strike began. UCP faced rising costs and delays with no clear timetable, opting to lose what they’ve spent so far rather than proceeding.
The original film took place in a futuristic urban dystopia where the city’s wealthy elite enjoyed a lavish life of comfort and ease in penthouses and pleasure gardens whilst scores of workers labor at dangerous machinery in the bowels of the city to keep everything running.
Freder Fredersen, the son of the most powerful man in Metropolis, has an awakening after meeting a young female worker and witnessing a number of workers die in an industrial accident.
Middleton was to play the role of Finnie Polito in the new take, which Esmail was to write, direct and show run.
Source: Deadline
