‘Metropolis’ TV Adaptation From Sam Esmail Lands Series Order At Apple

Sam Esmail’s adaptation of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 film Metropolis finally is coming to the small screen.

The streamer has handed a series order to the project, which comes out of the Mr. Robot creator’s massive overall deal at UCP.

It will be written and directed entirely by Esmail, who also is behind Starz’s upcoming political drama series Gaslit.

2022 Apple TV+ Pilots & Series Orders

Metropolis was directed by Lang and written by Thea Von Harbou based on the latter’s 1925 novel. It is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master.

The silent film is considered one of the first feature films in the sci-fi genre and, though it was panned on its initial release, has been praised by the likes of Martin Scorsese and named the 35th greatest film of all time by the British Film Institute.

The series has had a long journey to the screen; it first emerged that Esmail was developing it – then with UCP and Anonymous Content – back in 2016, and last year the writer-director said that he was working on the pilot script.

Esmail will exec produce with his Esmail Corp production partner Chad Hamilton.

Esmail is repped by CAA and Mckuin Frankel Whitehead.