Writer Gillian Flynn says: It’s “basically a conspiracy thriller.” About “a group of nerds” who think they’ve uncovered a graphic novel that may have secrets about what’s happening in the world. Utopia has been in development for around seven years now, and is finally being released after the UK version was released in 2013. Flynn explained that the series is “totally relevant” right now considering what our planet is going through with the pandemic.
She also wanted it to be different than the “poppy” British counterpart, making this a grittier, nastier remake. Flynn wanted it to have similar themes to her favorite “70s paranoia thrillers”. She wanted that feeling of paranoia, to “make it feel real”.
Gillian made her bones by writing Gone Girl in 2014, and has since written hit TV series Sharp Objects and recent film Widows, both highly acclaimed. She explained that writing Widows helped her in shaping Utopia as Widows is also a remake based on an older television series, and Flynn has learned to respect the original while making it different.
The cast members said terrific things about the series. John Cusack, who plays Dr. Kevin Christie, praised it. Cusack became obsessed with the script before he got the part, and said it was “ambitious, audacious, sophisticated and funny as hell.” Rainn Wilson also complimented the series while reading the script, saying that it was “grounded” and “outrageous” and “has a nice sense of humor.”
In fact, the ENTIRE cast actually came together at the end and said one sentence to convince audiences to watch it. Stars said it was “dark and chilling”, “you’ve never seen anything like it before”, there’s “a strong, badass leading woman”, “the world is so vibrantly beautiful, thrilling and funny”, and “it’s dope, it will take you on a ride and keep you there. But mainly because it’s dope.”
The show will be available on Amazon this year, I’ll be tuning in, but will you?
