Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail has been working on a TV series adaptation of Fritz Lang’s classic sci-fi movie Metropolis for some time, and now he finally has a star. It was reported today that Briana Middleton is set to star in the Metropolis TV series, which Esmail is developing for Apple.
Plot details for the Metropolis TV series continue to be kept under wraps, but Briana Middleton will be playing a character named Finnie Polito. Based on the novel by Thea Von Harbou, the original 1927 film was set in a futuristic urban dystopia and followed the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. We’ll be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the movie in just a few short years.
Things may have changed over the years, but a description revealed when the project was first announced said that the series “takes place in a future society where wealthy industrialists rule the cast city from high-rise tower complexes, while a lower class of underground-dwelling workers toil constantly to operate the machines that provide its power. Risking everything they know, two star-crossed lovers from opposite sides of the divide must find a way to bring down the whole system.“
Briana Middleton was most recently seen in Sharper, a psychological thriller by Benjamin Caron that unfolds “within the secrets of New York City, from the penthouses of Fifth Avenue to the shadowy corners of Queens. Motivations are suspect and expectations are turned upside down when nothing is as it seems.” The film also stars Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, John Lithgow, and Justice Smith. Our own Alex Maidy singled Middleton out for praise in his review of the film, saying that she’s “fantastic as the up-and-coming femme fatale who is the key to everything that happens. Middleton will generate a lot of buzz from this performance, and I expect to see more of her in the future.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review right here. Sharper was released in select theaters last week and will debut on Apple TV+ on February 17th.