Rainn Wilson, Cory Michael Smith & Dan Byrd Join The Cast Of Amazon’s ‘Utopia’ Remake
Amazon has added some interesting new names to the cast for their upcoming remake of ‘Utopia‘, as Rainn Wilson, Cory Michael Smith & Dan Byrd join the series, it has been announced.
The 9-episode series comes from award-winning Gillian Flynn, the best-selling author and screenwriter of Golden Globe-nominated ‘Gone Girl’, HBO’s award-winning ‘Sharp Objects’, and is based on Channel 4 series of the same name. The story follows a group of young adults, who meet online but are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organisation after they come into possession of a near-mythical, cult, underground graphic novel. They discover the conspiracy theories in the comic’s pages may actually be real and are forced into the dangerous, unique and ironic position of saving the world.
Rainn Wilson takes the role of Michael Stearns, a once a promising virologist, but now a forgotten scientist who’s lost his edge, working in his under-appreciated and underfunded laboratory. 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.
Wilson has most recently been seen as Harry Mudd, the shifty conman in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. He is probably best known for his work as Dwight in the US remake of ‘The Office’, and starring in the drama ‘Backstrom’. He also popped up in movies such as ‘Super’ and ‘Juno’.
Cory Michael Smith is set to play the bright and ambitious Thomas Christie. Thomas works under his biotech scientist father at Christie Laboratories. He becomes tasked with tracking down the only copy of the much sought after graphic novel, Utopia, for less than benevolent reasons.
Smith is, of course, best known to ‘Gotham’ fans for his wonderful portrayal of The Riddler in the superhero/villian series. He also recently popped up in the Neil Armstrong biopic, ‘First Man’.
Dan Byrd will star as Ian, a young man who went to an online college, works in a soul-robbing job, and lives in a small apartment with his grandma in Canton, Ohio. Craving a more exciting life outside his online/virtual world, he embarks on a mission to uncover the secrets of the graphic novel Utopia, which also is driven by his crush on fellow graphic novel fan Becky.
Byrd is probably best known for his role as Travis in the comedy ‘Cougar Town’. He also has popped up in the recent ‘Quarantine’ episode of ‘The Good Doctor’, along with episodes of ‘Scandal’, ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Mad Men’.
The trio join the previously announced Sasha Lane, who takes the key role of Jessica Hyde, the hard-as-nails girl who has spent her life on the run from a mysterious and dangerous group, but believes all the answers about her perplexing life story may be hidden in the graphic novel ‘Utopia’.
The series is a co-production between Endemol Shine North America, Kudos, an Endemol Shine Group UK production studio, and Amazon Studios. Flynn is the creator, executive producer and showrunner of ‘Utopia’, and executive producers include Jessica Rhoades (who Flynn collaborated with on ‘Sharp Objects’), Sharon Hall, Karen Wilson, Dennis Kelly and Diederick Santer. Sharon Levy, President, Unscripted & Scripted Television, Endemol Shine North America, will oversee production for Endemol Shine.
Amazon has yet to announce a premiere date for ‘Utopia‘, but if its only casting now, it is likely to be 2020 before it lands. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
