The Tender Bar actress Briana Middleton has been cast in the lead role of Apple TV+’s upcoming miniseries adaptation of the classic movie Metropolis, Variety is reporting. The casting news comes after the show was originally greenlit by the streamer in March 2022.
Middleton, who was the first performer cast in the adaptation, will play Finnie Polito in her first starring television role. The character has been invented for the series.
The show is inspired by the 1927 German expressionist sci-fi film of the same name. The movie, which was directed by Fritz Lang, has been hailed as one of the most influential features of the silent film era. The series is also based on the 1925 novel of the same name by Thea von Harbou, who also wrote the movie’s screenplay.
Mr. Robot creator-writer-director-executive producer Sam Esmail is set to scribe and helm Metropolis‘ upcoming television adaptation. He has been working on the show since at least 2016, when it was first reported that he was developing a series adaptation of the film.
Esmail will also executive produce the upcoming drama via Esmail Corp. Chad Hamilton of Anonymous Content will also executive produce Metropolis. UCP will also produce the series with Esmail, who’s currently under an overall deal at the studio.
Exact plot details of the show haven’t yet been revealed. But the movie is set in the titular futuristic, heavily industrialized dystopian city. In Metropolis, the wealthy elite enjoy a lavish life of comfort and ease in penthouses and pleasure gardens. Meanwhile, scores of workers work dangerous machinery in the bowels of the city to keep everything running.
Things change, however, when Freder Fredersen, the wealthy son of the city’s rule, has an awakening over how the city is run. He changes his attitude about how its citizens live after meeting a young female worker and witnessing a number of workers die in an industrial accident.
The announcement of Middleton’s casting in Metropolis comes just days before her crime drama, Sharper, debuts on Apple this Friday, February 17. The thriller film was co-written and directed by Benjamin Caron. Besides the actress, Sharper also stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan and John Lithgow.