Sam Esmail has already given television Mr. Robot, one of the medium’s most eclectic and mindbending dramas. Now, Esmail is reportedly looking to bring Fritz Lang’s legendary sci-fi film, Metropolis to television as a miniseries.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news about Esmail’s take on Metropolis, which will retain the futuristic setting and basic premise from Lang’s original movie. But it won’t be happening anytime soon. Esmail is producing Metropolis under his development deal with Universal Cable Productions, but he’s expected to put it off “for another two to three years” while he continues to work on Mr. Robot.
Lang conceived Metropolis with his wife, Thea von Harbou, as they envisioned a futuristic world in which society was divided by the working class who were forced to live underground and the wealthy inhabitants who lived in the tallest buildings of the city. The film came out in 1927, and it’s been incredibly influential on sci-fi for nearly 90 years. One of the most striking characters in Metropolis was the Maschinenmensch, a.k.a. “Maria,” a female android who may have been the first robot to appear in a cinematic story. It’s pretty safe to assume that Esmail will use the Maschinenmensch in his take on Metropolis, because she’s still an icon.
It’s less clear where this Metropolis miniseries will end up. USA has to be considered the most likely network given Esmail’s pre-existing relationship with it, and because UCP is a corporate sibling to USA and Syfy. But because the budget is said to be $10 million per episode, that may open the door for a larger cable network or streaming sight to step in and put up the money for the miniseries.
Which network would you like to see Esmail’s Metropolis end up on? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: UFA
