After just a few months of being in development, Showtime has officially scrapped plans for a Gattaca TV show adaptation. Written and directed by The Truman Show‘s Andrew Niccol, the dystopian sci-fi movie was set in a near future in which society is split between those conceived naturally and those created via genetic selection, following Ethan Hawke’s Vincent as he poses as the latter in the hopes of fulfilling his dreams of deep-space travel. Also starring Jude Law, Uma Thurman and Gore Vidal, Gattaca scored critical acclaim, though proved a box office failure.
Amid studio turmoil with the ongoing WGA writers strike and potential SAG-AFTRA strike, The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Showtime has scrapped plans for four new TV shows, including a continuation of the Ethan Hawke sci-fi movie Gattaca. Other projects scrapped or passed on include the Mandy Patinkin comedy Seasoned, which had a series order, the female-driven anthology Sweetness from Promising Young Woman‘s Emerald Fennell and thriller show Split. Sources report that Sony Pictures Television does intend to shop Gattaca to other platforms along with Sweetness.
Why Now Is A Great Time For A Gattaca Sequel
With Homeland duo Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa showrunning the project and having penned the script with Dallas Buyers Club‘s Craig Borten, details have largely been kept under wraps as to what the story would entail for the Gattaca TV show, save for the fact it would take place “a generation” after the events of the movie. Given a generation likely indicates just a couple of decades gone from the movie, the door seems open for Hawke and Thurman to return should the show find a new home.
Those who enjoyed the movie are sure to be keen for the Gattaca show to bring both Hawke and Thurman back to explore the very open-ended nature of their character arcs, with the former successfully embarking on a mission, despite being expected to die from a heart defect shortly thereafter and the latter also having a higher risk of heart failure. While it could easily be explained in passing the fate of their characters, it could prove more interesting to have the story center on their offspring if Hawke survived his mission.
Not only would this allow the creatives to look towards what worked in fellow legacy sci-fi sequel, Blade Runner 2049, but could even pave the way for the Gattaca TV show casting one of its leads with Hawke and Thurman’s real-life daughter and acclaimed actor, Maya Hawke. With her star-making turns in Stranger Things and Fear Street Part One: 1994, having the younger Hawke as the lead would lend the show some star power for younger audiences, while the return of her parents would be nostalgic draws for those who loved the movie.
Source: THR
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