The first teaser for the Amazon Prime remake of Channel 4's genocidal thriller Utopia was released as part of the San Diego Comic-Con@Home. Following the original premise of an online group of comic fans who stumble upon a global conspiracy to reduce the population of the Earth.
In development for over 6 years, Amazon's take on the original has been adapted by Gone Girl screenwriter Gillian Flynn and stars Rainn Wilson (The Office), Desmin Borges (You're the Worst) and John Cusack (Gross Pointe Blank) in several key roles with Sasha Lane (American Honey) as the elusive Jessica Hyde. The original series involved fans of graphic novel 'The Utopia Experiments' meeting up to see the original pages of an unpublished sequel. However their lives are upended by a shadowy cabal known only as The Network and they're relentlessly pursued by two assassins who will stop at nothing to keep them silent.
The 2013 version of Utopia was a critical hit with a perfect 100% critics rating and 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, gaining praise for its unique direction and atmosphere. It also was notorious for including several controversial scenes of extreme violence, which may have contributed to the low ratings that earned its cancellation after season 2. As so often happens with genre shows cut down in their prime, Utopia earned a passionate fanbase as it achieved cult status.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfMBkiPFh-k[/embed]
The teaser doesn't give many details away but during the panel, Flynn said, “My idea was to not only Americanize it and deal with things that are resonant to Americans in a lot of ways but to also make things gritty and dirty and nasty in a very realistic way. Whereas [original series writer Dennis Kelly] took his cue from the graphic novels themselves, I took my cue more from the ’70s paranoia thrillers that I love.” She added that the show has "never felt more resonant."
Originally optioned by HBO with David Fincher attached to direct, Amazon picked up the rights in 2018, ordering 9 episodes with filming completed in 2019. The original series was cancelled before it could reach a satisfying conclusion, but perhaps Amazon's version will give fans the closure they desire.
Utopia is expected to launch on Amazon Prime in Fall 2020.
Source: Variety