Draft:Metropolis (upcoming TV series)

Metropolis is a cancelled science fiction miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Thea von Harbou, which was adapted by Harbou into the 1927 film directed by Fritz Lang.

Production
It was announced in December 2016 that Sam Esmail was developing a miniseries based on the novel and Fritz Lang film. In March 2022, Apple TV+ greenlit the series, with Esmail set as writer and director for all episodes.

Production for the series will take place in Melbourne, Australia. Pre-production was set for October 2022, with filming to begin in early 2023. In February 2023, Briana Middleton and Lindy Booth were cast to star in the series.

Production was set to occur at Docklands Studios Melbourne, and is expected to be the first to make use of their Stage One facility. In June, UCP announced they had decided to cancel the series, as a result of pre-production delays and the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, which had left them unable to work on production drafts of the episode scripts. In addition to a SAG-AFTRA strike that would begin a month later, the studio notified Apple that the series would not be moving forward. In a November interview, Esmail stated he would be happy to discuss moving forward with the project again, even if at a lower price point.