The future is coming to AppleTV+. Sam Esmail, creator of the Mr. Robot television series, is working on a series inspired by the classic science fiction film Metropolis! This news comes to us from SlashFilm.
Metropolis is a staple of not only science fiction history but of film history as well. The German expressionist drama of the silent era was directed by Fritz Lang, who is also known for such classics as M, You Only Live Once, and The Woman in the Window. The film takes place in the fictional city of Metropolis, where the wealthy live in the lap of luxury while the people of the lower working class toil away in the depths of the underground. To Freder, the son of Joh Fredersen, the city’s master, Metropolis is a utopia of endless pleasure. But one day, he follows a beautiful young woman named Maria down into the depths of the city’s underbelly. After witnessing a failure in the machinery and seeing a vision, Freder learns that the spoils he and his family have indulged for generations were all at the cost of innocent lives. As Freder and Maria try to find a way to bring peace between the rich and the poor, Joh Fredersen and the inventor Rotwang are revealed to have their own plot. This is where audiences are introduced to what is probably the most influential robot in pop culture, The Machine Man.
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If you’ve never seen Metropolis, and are a fan of science fiction, upon first watch, you’ll find yourself pointing at the screen multiple times. The film has influenced countless movies over the years, with arguably the most notable being Star Wars and Blade Runner! Sadly, time was not the kindest to this film. Due to the movie’s heavy use of religious imagery and a controversial communist message, the film was heavily censored upon distribution. It wasn’t until 2008 when a heavily damaged but original cut was found in a museum in Argentina. What was salvaged from this print became The Complete Metropolis. Released in 2010, the new definitive cut has a run time of 148 minutes and is available on both DVD and Blu-ray and certain streaming platforms like Kanopy.
A Metropolis for a New Era
Right now, it still seems a little early to be making any large guesses on what Metropolis will end up becoming. But the series now coming to Apple seems like a promising piece of news. With such juggernauts as the upcoming House of the Dragon series for HBOMax, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Prime Video, and the Marvel and Star Wars shows for Disney+, it truly feels like a new golden age for genre television. Apple seems to be throwing its cards in with science fiction rather than pure fantasy, and judging by the positive reception of Foundation, it looks like they know what they’re doing. Let’s hope we’ll be hearing good news from Metropolis soon as well!
