David Fincher's UTOPIA remake for HBO dies in pre-production

Fans of Channel 4's quirky and horrifying thriller Utopia were inconsolable last year, when it was announced the show wouldn't be renewed for a third series. While the final episode sort of works as an ending, the story was clearly intended to continue with a new dynamic. The only silver lining was the prospect of a big-budget U.S remake perhaps becoming a bigger commercial success, to potentially continue the basic story beyond where Channel 4's version left off. And while the idea of American remakes of English-language shows generally causes puzzled looks from English-speakers everywhere, the fact this one was being masterminded by David Fincher (Fight Club) and writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), for cable heavyweight HBO, was enough to make me optimistic...

TV News: The CW renewals, GOTHAM casting, TRUE DETECTIVE, BBC America's Robin Hood drama NOTTINGHAM, David Fincher's UTOPIA remake

• In wholly expected news, The CW have renewed superhero drama ARROW for a third season. Other hits like The Vampire Diaries, its spin-off The Originals, Supernatural, and Mary Queen of Scots period drama Reign will also be back next season. [via DigitalSpy]

Channel 4 request more UTOPIA

Utopia was another UK drama that felt like a self-contained miniseries, before ending on an unexpected cliffhanger. Luckily, Channel 4 has agreed to a second series of this conspiracy drama, despite seeing ratings drop to a low of 1.15m over its six-week run.

Piers Wenger, Channel 4's Head of Drama, nevertheless praised the "... extraordinary creativity of [creator] Dennis Kelly, [director] Marc Munden and the team at Kudos", adding how Channel 4 is "... thrilled to announce the further adventures for Utopia's eclectic cast of characters which are already shaping up to be more imaginative, outrageous and brilliantly intriguing than the first."

UTOPIA – episode two

I reviewed the feature-length premiere of this six-part thriller last week for MSN, and enjoyed it a great deal. The second episode was less engrossing, which tends to be the case for shows of this nature. It couldn't impress us in the same way, but still managed to maintain a dazzling level of technical proficiency. The direction by Marc Munden is frankly superb, with gorgeous wide angle shots and an almost luminescent colour palette at times. Stylistically you really can't fault this show, and it envelops you with a strange tone you don't tend to experience outside of the movies.

MSN TV: Channel 4's UTOPIA

Today over at MSN: I've reviewed the premiere of Channel 4's unnerving six-part conspiracy thriller UTOPIA, starring Alexandra Roach, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adeel Akhtar and Neil Maskell...

Utopia is a slow-burn thriller that aims to establish a mood and draw the viewer in, which it did to impressive effect thanks to the cinematic direction of Marc Munden (The Devil's Whore), who filled the screen with smart, colourful and sophisticated visuals. The cinematography was stunning, and I particularly liked the use of a background howl of wind to unsettle viewers. The only frustration was how Utopia's spell was frequently broken by commercial breaks; which convinced me to record and fast-forward the ads next time.

Continue reading at MSN TV...