Film adaptations of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033 novel have started and stopped a few times. Most recently, the movie rights reverted back to the author after Glukhovsky and the project’s then production company, MGM, disagreed over the script. Now, it appears the writer has put his faith in another company. Russia’s Gazprom Media acquired the Metro 2033 rights and will team with its subsidiaries, TNT Premier Studios, TV-3 Channel and Central Partnership, to film the novel. Shooting is slated to begin sometime next year, with a theatrical release date of January 1, 2022 currently set in place.
The last attempt at adapting the book fell through because the screenwriter’s script reportedly Americanized Glukhovsky’s work. Glukhovsky seems much more confident about the way this new partnership with Gazprom Media is working out. In a statement, the author explained, “…I finally met a team that I can entrust Metro with. Our ambitions turned out to be similar: to create a world-class blockbuster and stun even those who have read the trilogy and know it by heart.”
Metro 2033’s film adaptation is already being dubbed an ambitious one by the film’s producer, Valery Fedorovich. Fedorovich said Metro 2033 represents Gazprom Media’s “most ambitious and large-scale film.” Given the novel’s premise and its successful adaptation into an acclaimed video game series, it’s no surprise the production company’s aspirations seem so high.
The novel, as well as the game from 4A Games, takes place in the aftermath of a global nuclear war. What remains of Russian civilization has retreated into the ruins of the underground metro system, trying their best to survive with some degree of normalcy. This post-apocalyptic science fiction tale from Glukhovsky originally released in 2002. It later spawned two sequels to complete a trilogy, Metro 2034 and Metro 2035. The first book’s video game adaptation hit store shelves in 2010.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
