Sam Esmail’s Metropolis Sci-Fi Series Cancelled Amid Ongoing WGA Strike

Nick Caruso
·1 min read
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Our trip to the world of Metropolis has officially been cancelled: Sam Esmail’s adaptation of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 sci-fi film has been scrapped, our sister site Deadline first reported.

“Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision,” a rep for its studio UCP (a division of Universal Studio Group) said.

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The series’ fate had been in limbo for weeks, as script drafts had not been finished before the May 2 start of the writers strike. Decisions on budgets and other key pre-production elements were also left undone at that time. Rising costs of the building and holding of expansive stages, plus labor intensive VFX work also affected the decision to abandon ship. After evaluating the money spent so far and future financial risks, UCP chose to not move forward with the series and alerted their partners at Apple TV+.

Per the original film’s description, “Metropolis takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor.” The series was partially cast, with Briana Middleton (The Tender Bar) set as the lead and Lindy Booth (The Librarians) tapped for a major role.

The highly anticipated project received a series order from Apple TV+ in March of last year, and was a passion project for Mr. Robot creator Esmail. In addition to serving as showrunner, Esmail was set to write and direct every episode.

Were you looking forward to visiting Metropolis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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