Apple TV+ Abruptly Cancels Plans to Reboot Classic Movie

Apple TV+ Abruptly Cancels Plans to Reboot Classic Movie,Apple TV+ just canceled a massive sci-fi project headed up by writer and producer Sam Esmail. Esmail was nearly finished with pre-production on his adaptation of the 1927 movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang, but according to a report by Deadline, Apple stopped the show in its tracks. Cast and crew [...]

Apple TV+ Abruptly Cancels Plans to Reboot Classic Movie

Apple TV+ just canceled a massive sci-fi project headed up by writer and producer Sam Esmail. Esmail was nearly finished with pre-production on his adaptation of the 1927 movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang, but according to a report by Deadline, Apple stopped the show in its tracks. Cast and crew members amassing for the shoot were suddenly left without work they had been expecting to sustain them for weeks or months to come.

Metropolis was ordered by Apple and was poised for an elaborate shoot – the movie’s set was being constructed in Australia and the cameras would have started rolling soon if the crews hadn’t been abruptly ordered to stop. A source close to the set told Deadline that crew members were abruptly told to reverse course and begin tearing down the set. A rep for UCP, the production studio, confirmed the news, saying: “Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision.”

Esmail is best known for creating, writing and directing the series Mr. Robot starring Rami Malek, and he has plenty of other hits under his name besides. His most recent show is The Resort – a dark comedy that premiered on Peacock last summer. Esmail was picked to head up Metropolis in March of 2022, though the series was first announced back in 2016. It’s unclear how the writing on this series was carried out or how the WGA strike may have impacted the studios’ decision to scrap this show.

The original 1927 film Metropolis is a German sci-fi film associated with the expressionist movement – meaning it focused on mirroring the artists’ inner feelings even at the expense of realism and accuracy. Expressionist films were generally very distorted and surreal. Metropolis is a silent film set in a futuristic urban dystopia where the wealthy son of a politician falls in love with a woman regarded as a saint by the downtrodden workers. Together, they help to settle the class issues and disorder in the city.

It’s unclear how the remake would have altered this premise for the modern era, but there were two main cast members already announced to the public. Briana Middleton was cast as the lead in the series, while Lindy Booth was cast in a “major role.” Beyond that, little was known about the creative direction of this series.

Esmail has at least one other upcoming project to look forward to – Leave the World Behind, a drama film due out this December. Hopefully, he and the rest of the cast and crew of Metropolis can find other work to fill their schedules after this abrupt cancellation.

0comments

Emmy Rossum and ‘Mr. Robot’ Creator Sam Esmail Tie the Knot
Apple TV+’s ‘City on Fire’: Jemima Kirke and Ashley Zukerman Desperately Search for Their Missing Kids (Exclusive Clip)
‘Silo’ Season 2 Fate Revealed at Apple TV+