More than five years ago, Gillian Flynn and David Fincher joined forces for an HBO adaptation of the BBC series Utopia. Fincher was slated to direct the pilot with Flynn penning the script, and the cast included Rooney Mara, Colm Feore, Eric McCormack, Dallas Roberts, and Jason Ritter. However, the project soon fell apart after disputes over the budget and the cast were later released, but last year, Amazon came to the rescue and gave the project a nine-episode straight-to-series order.
It's been announced that John Cusack has joined the cast of Utopia as Dr. Kevin Christie, a charismatic and media-savvy biotech genius with a philanthropic outlook who altruistically wants to change the world through science. Utopia will follow "a group of young adults who meet online that are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come into possession of a near-mythical cult underground graphic novel. Within the comic’s pages, they discover the conspiracy theories that may actually be real and are forced into the dangerous, unique and ironic position of saving the world." While David Fincher is now longer involved, Gillian Flynn is still onboard as creator, executive-producer, and writer.
In addition to John Cusack, the Utopia cast includes Sasha Lane (HELLBOY) and Riann Wilson (Star Trek: Discovery). Lane will play Jessica Hyde. "Tough and feral after a life on the run from a mysterious and dangerous group, Jessica believes all the answers about her perplexing life story may be hidden in the graphic novel ‘Utopia’." Wilson is set to play Michael Stearns. "Once a promising virologist, Michael is now a forgotten scientist who’s lost his edge—under-appreciated and underfunded in his laboratory work. When a nationwide outbreak of a deadly flu arises, Michael offers his expertise, and soon finds he has landed smack in the middle of something much bigger."