7 years of work in the trash! One of the best sci-fi movie adaptations of all time has been canceled

It was one of the most ambitious TV projects to come: Sam Esmail’s series adaptation of the cinematic classic Metropolis. Almost 100 years after its release, Fritz Lang’s German sci-fi film is getting a brand new iteration, with the creator of the iconic series Mr. Robot at the helm.

And this crazy project was purely and simply canceled before the start of its filming, which was supposed to take place in Australia this summer. Deadline It teaches us that the series Metropolis is one of the first victims of the uncertain social and economic context in Hollywood due to the writers’ strike.

One of the representatives of UCP Studio (Universal Content Production, a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group) explained: “The high costs and uncertainty surrounding the strike made this a difficult decision.”.

A passion project for the creator of Mr. Robot

The Metropolis series was Sam Esmail’s next big passion project, which he had been working on for seven years. The Mr. Robot creator was set to write, direct and executive produce the eight-episode series, which was ordered by Apple TV+ last year.

Although locations and infrastructure had already been booked, the scripts and special effects visualizations were not completed before the writers’ strike that began last May. This led to delays in budget planning and other key elements of pre-production.

This poor timing increased the salaries of production, set construction and special effects teams. After evaluating the costs, UCP preferred not to take the risk and canceled the production of the series.

Metropolis was to be filmed in Victoria, Australia, in one of the world’s largest “virtual production” facilities, which would create more than 4,000 jobs.

Two actors have already joined the cast: Lindy Booth (Kick-Ass 2) was set to play the android heroine Maria, and Briana Middleton (Tender Barry) was set to bring her features to a new character named Finny Polito.

Therefore, Fritz Lang’s film remains the only adaptation of Thea von Harbu’s dystopian novel of waiting, published in 1925. To recall, it tells the story of a 2026 metropolis workers’ revolt led by an android against the rich inhabitants. Thanks to the hard work of the workforce buried underground in the city’s hanging gardens.