Amazon has ordered “Utopia” straight-to-series. The nine-episode series hails from “Gone Girl” writer Gillian Flynn, and it marks the first project under her new overall deal at the streaming studio.
Flynn’s “Utopia” has been the works for quite a while and floated around various platforms. The adaptation of Dennis Kelly’s British series of the same name (not to be confused with the Fox reality show disaster) was originally set for HBO, but that plan died in 2015. This one is a co-production between Endemol Shine North America and Kudos — an Endemol Shine Group UK production studio — and Amazon Studios.
“Utopia” follows a group of young adults who meet online and are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come in to possession of a near mythical cult underground graphic novel, per Amazon. With it, they discover the conspiracy theories in the comic’s pages may actually be real and are forced in to the dangerous, unique and ironic position of saving the world.
“We are huge fans of Gillian Flynn’s electrifying work,” said Nick Hall, head of Alternative Series for Amazon Studios. “She crafts stories that hold her audience in a constant state of suspense and subverts the expectations behind her characters. She will deliver Prime Video members a series they won’t forget, and ‘Utopia’s’ relevance is sure to connect with viewers around the globe.”
“‘Utopia’ is pure creative catnip to me,” added Flynn. “Dennis Kelly’s show blew my mind, and he has been so incredibly generous in letting me crack open his world and play around in it and make it my own weird, wild place. Utopia is all about exploring resonant issues within dark, twisted storytelling — it’s a series that’s urgent and current and a little holy-crap!, but a hell of a lot of a fun.”
Flynn is considered the domestic version’s creator, executive producer and showrunner. Other executive producers include Kelly, Jessica Rhoades, Sharon Hall, Karen Wilson and Diederick Santer. Sharon Levy, president, Unscripted & Scripted Television, Endemol Shine North America, will oversee production for Endemol Shine.