Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail’s Apple TV+ series version of Metropolis has been scrapped due to the writers strike
A passion project for Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, the TV series Metropolis, inspired by the 1927 sci-fi classic directed by Fritz Lang, was officially ordered by Apple TV+ fifteen months ago. Earlier this year, Briana Middleton (Sharper) and Lindy Booth (The Librarians) were cast to star in the show. But now Deadline reports that Metropolis has been scrapped, becoming “one of the highest-profile casualties of the growing uncertainty in Hollywood” due to the writers strike.
Deadline has learned that Metropolis had been prepping for production in Australia, but has now been permanently shut down. “The crew was just notified that the ambitious project will not move forward with production, which had been targeting a summer start.” A representative for the production company UCP confirmed, “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision.” They go on to note, “Metropolis had been in limbo for the past seven weeks. The large-scale, special effects-heavy show’s scripts were not finished before the writers strike began on May 2, which delayed budgeting and other pre-production elements. UCP faced rising costs due to the timing of the writers strike and the uncertainty of a possible SAG-AFTRA walkout. 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+.”
Based on a novel by Thea Von Harbou, Metropolis was set in a futuristic urban dystopia and followed 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. Plot details for the TV series were being kept under wraps.
Reports of Middleton’s casting revealed that she would be playing a character named Finnie Polito – a name that wasn’t in the previous versions of Metropolis. Booth’s character had a familiar name, Maria. SuperHeroHype explained that in the 1927 movie Maria belonged to the working class, which was the driving force behind the dystopian city of the title. The wealthy citizens lived in high-rise towers above her. Maria eventually meets Freder, the son of the city master, who watches in horror in a tragic accident as several workers die. Freder agrees to help Maria bridge a gap between the rich & the poor. There was some speculation that Finnie Polito could be a version of the Freder character… but now we’ll never get to meet Finnie Polito or this new take on Maria.
How do you feel about the Metropolis TV series being scrapped? Was this show something you were looking forward to? Please let us know what you thought by leaving a message below.
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail’s Apple TV+ series version of Metropolis has been scrapped due to the writers strike
A passion project for Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, the TV series Metropolis, inspired by the 1927 sci-fi classic directed by Fritz Lang, was officially ordered by Apple TV+ fifteen months ago. Earlier this year, Briana Middleton (Sharper) and Lindy Booth (The Librarians) were cast to star in the show. But now Deadline reports that Metropolis has been scrapped, becoming “one of the highest-profile casualties of the growing uncertainty in Hollywood” due to the writers strike.
Deadline has learned that Metropolis had been prepping for production in Australia, but has now been permanently shut down. “The crew was just notified that the ambitious project will not move forward with production, which had been targeting a summer start.” A representative for the production company UCP confirmed, “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision.” They go on to note, “Metropolis had been in limbo for the past seven weeks. The large-scale, special effects-heavy show’s scripts were not finished before the writers strike began on May 2, which delayed budgeting and other pre-production elements. UCP faced rising costs due to the timing of the writers strike and the uncertainty of a possible SAG-AFTRA walkout. 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+.”
Based on a novel by Thea Von Harbou, Metropolis was set in a futuristic urban dystopia and followed 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. Plot details for the TV series were being kept under wraps.
Reports of Middleton’s casting revealed that she would be playing a character named Finnie Polito – a name that wasn’t in the previous versions of Metropolis. Booth’s character had a familiar name, Maria. SuperHeroHype explained that in the 1927 movie Maria belonged to the working class, which was the driving force behind the dystopian city of the title. The wealthy citizens lived in high-rise towers above her. Maria eventually meets Freder, the son of the city master, who watches in horror in a tragic accident as several workers die. Freder agrees to help Maria bridge a gap between the rich & the poor. There was some speculation that Finnie Polito could be a version of the Freder character… but now we’ll never get to meet Finnie Polito or this new take on Maria.
How do you feel about the Metropolis TV series being scrapped? Was this show something you were looking forward to? Please let us know what you thought by leaving a message below.
Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
