The attempt to make a US version of cult UK series Utopia has had a rough old go of it so far. Announced with much excitement when David Fincher landed a deal to make it and a few other projects with HBO, it has since hit problems with budget costs and been abandoned. Amazon has now swooped in to snatch it up, maintaining Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn as writer and creator of the new show.
Flynn had been attached to produce and write the HBO version, so there is at least that continuity, though Fincher no longer appears to be involved. Utopia, in case you didn’t see the Channel 4 original, was created by Dennis kelly and set things in motion with the discovery of a manuscript for a legendary graphic novel known as The Utopia Experiments, long shrouded in mystery. When a small group of previously unconnected people unite in their shared interest, things take a much darker turn.
It turns out that they are by no means the only ones interested in the manuscript. Targeted swiftly and relentlessly by a murderous organisation known as The Network, the terrified group are left with only one option if they want to survive: run. The show ran for two series, but obviously Amazon will be hoping for more, and has handed out a straight-to-series order. Fingers crossed it works out this time...
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