Update: Three months after the Gattaca reboot TV series was first announced comes the news that the project has been scrapped by Showtime. In addition to the Gattaca series, Showtime also axed Seasoned, a comedy inspired by the lives of real-life married couple Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, as well as Sweetness and Split, two projects that had been in development. Gattaca will have the opportunity to be shopped elsewhere, so it’s possible we may still see the reboot series.
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Gattaca remains one of my favourite movies, but that doesn’t make it immune from receiving the reboot treatment. It’s been reported that Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, best known for Homeland, are developing a TV series adaptation of the 1997 sci-fi movie for Showtime with Craig Borton (Dallas Buyers Club).
Deals haven’t closed yet, but it’s said that Alex Gansa will serve as showrunner of the Gattaca reboot and will also executive produce alongside Howard Gordon and Craig Borton. The original movie was written and directed by Andrew Niccol and took place in a not-too-distant future where eugenics is common and parents use genetic selection to determine the best hereditary traits to pass along to their children. Ethan Hawke stars as Vincent, who was conceived without any genetic tampering and thus struggles to overcome genetic discrimination to realize his dream of going to space. The film also starred Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Alan Arkin, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal, and Xander Berkeley. While Gattaca wasn’t a commercial success upon release, the movie has since gone on to become a cult classic and a favourite of many.
This isn’t the first time that a reboot of Gattaca has been in the works. Sony Pictures Television attempted to develop Gattaca as a one-hour police procedural set in the future back in 2009, but the project didn’t end up moving forward.
Showtime will soon be rebranding as Paramount+ with Showtime as part of a revamp that will double down on franchises. This means sequels, prequels, and spin-offs of their previous hits, such as Dexter, Billions, and Ray Donovan. This new focus has come at the expense of many of their shows which had either just aired or were still in development, including American Gigolo, Let the Right One In, Ripley, Three Women, and more. Some of those shows have been rescued by other networks and streaming services, but it’s clear what Showtime’s focus is going to be for the near future.
How do you feel about Gattaca getting the reboot treatment? Does it have the makings of a great TV series?