‘Mr. Robot’ Creator Adapting ‘Metropolis’ As a TV Miniseries

Metropolis is one of the films of the silent era that is a marvel of its era and an influential piece of filmmaking that’s still making an impact today. You can find pieces of it in classic films like Star Wars, music from the likes of Janelle Monae and Madonna, and even some questionable influence in society — it was a favorite of the Nazis and their interest in the film and Fritz Lang help with the director’s decision to flee Germany ahead of World War II.

The film had been re-released numerous times, including a famous restoration by Giorgio Moroder complete with a modern pop music soundtrack in 1984, and was is one of the greatest “incomplete” films in history. A final “complete” version was released in 2010 by Kino video, but now it seems that the classic will make its way to television as the next prestige mini-series that will swallow up your time. Even better, it’s coming from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Metropolis will be executive produced by Esmail and his manager, Anonymous Content’s Chad Hamilton, who is also an EP on USA Network’s Mr. Robot. The writers’ room for the miniseries is said to be a less traditional set up. Insiders say it consists of only two or three scribes total, and is more of a “concept-room” in that the focus is less on writing scripts and more on figuring out conceptually how the movie could be adapted into an episodic series.

Sources say UCP is preparing to spend a hefty $10 million per episode, and that while the studio normally prioritizes its portfolio of networks (USA Network, Syfy, Bravo, E!, etc.), there is no mandate to go to the NBCUniversal-owned nets first.

The Hollywood Reporter points out that the project is still at least two to three years out, but the project timeline should fit well with Esmail’s plans with Mr. Robot, allowing him to give the miniseries the attention he’s known for giving with his USA Network hit.