Apple TV+ drama ‘Metropolis’ cancelled as UCP blames ‘writers strike’ uncertainty

Metropolis

Apple TV+’s upcoming drama Metropolis has been cancelled ahead of production in Australia, with Universal Content Productions (UCP) blaming the writers strike “uncertainty” for the decision.

The show, ordered last year, was to be an adaptation of Fritz Lang’s sci-fi film of the same name, which in turn was based on Thea von Harbou and Lang’s novel written in 1925.

It had been due to start production later this year, with Mr Robot‘s Sam Esmail attached to write, direct and showrun via his overall deal with UCP.

The show’s future had been uncertain for several months because scripts had not been finalised prior to the start of the US writers strike in May, according to Deadline which broke the news.

That in turn meant pre-production could not be finalised, nor budgets, leading to the cancellation.

“Push costs and uncertainty related to the ongoing strike led to this difficult decision,” UCP said.

Regarded as a pioneering work in science fiction cinema, the silent film is set in a dystopian future and tells the story of the wealthy son of a ruling city leader who joins forces with a working class hero to bring about social equality.

The new series had been set to create around 4,000 jobs in the Aussie state of Victoria, where much of the virtual effects work was to have taken place.