It was recently announced that Apple TV+ cast singer, songwriter, and actress, Briana Middleton (Augustus, Sharper) for its adaptation of Thea von Harbou’s Metropolis via. Variety. This comes after the series was greenlit last year in March. With many sequels and reboots being made, many see that it’s time for this classic made just over 95 years ago to get another rendition.
For many hardcore film historians, there are films that act as symbolic benchmarks for cinema in the context of sophistication, expression, and technique. The original expressionist sci-fi fiasco that was Metropolis was released in 1927 by Austrian Filmmaker, Fritz Lang (M, Scarlet Street) who based it off of Thea von Harbou’s (M, Spies) 1925 novel of the same name. This film set many milestones as being the first feature length science-fiction film, which set the standard for all successive films in the genre in some form or another. Its appeal to many was how it transcended filmmaking for its time and its dystopian look on a future society with high inequality.
According to Variety, Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot, Deep Down in Florida) had proposed to make the film into new series since December of 2016. In 2019, it came out that Esmail signed an overall deal with Universal Content Productions under NBCUniversal, according to Deadline, and his reimagined idea for Metropolis was greenlit by Apple in March 2022 to create eight episodes. Esmail will be the showrunner, writer, executive producer, and director for this Metropolis series alongside Chad Hamilton (Mr. Robot, Comet) through their respective companies of Esmail Corp. and Anonymous Content respectively.
Briana Middleton would play the lead role of Finnie Polito, a brand-new character that has been invented for the show according to Deadline. This would be Middleton’s first starring television role and comes ahead of A24’s film Sharper, which she also takes part in. That film would release on Friday 17th along with the dramedy, Hello Tomorrow! On AppleTV+. Middleton is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment Partners according to Variety. Deadline’s Pete Hammond called Middleton “a true star in the making” based on her performance in Amazon Prime Video’s, The Tender Bar, which was directed by George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven, O Brother, Where Art Thou).
For many, it’s fitting that this news comes as the original Metropolis entered the public domain on New Year’s Day in 2023 via Rolling Stone. With this, there are many possibilities for other filmmakers to make films and TV series heavily based on the 95-year-old film (at least in the states).
Considering the context of this film’s background and historical context, many liberties would be taken to modernize the series for an audience of the 21st century and would mark the first time this Metropolis would be unveiled for mainstream viewers. In the meantime, more details about the series adaptation will come out as the April 14th release date draws nearer.