Metro 2033 film cancelled after scriptwriter attempted to “Americanize” the story

Back in 2012 the American film company MGM acquired the rights to Dmitry Glukhovsky’s post-apocalyptic novel Metro 2033, opening the door to a filmic adaptation. Now, this door has been firmly shut, with the rights to the series returning to Glukhovsky.

What happened? Upon acquiring the rights to the series, MGM hired F. Scott Frasier to write a script for a movie that’s based on the book. This effort was ultimately in vain, as Frasier was given the impossible task of creating a worthy adaptation of Metro 2033 within an American setting, moving a series from the Moscow Metro into a different culture. 

Americanising Metro 2033 proved to be a task that was to difficult, with much of the series’ charm coming from the game’s distinctly Russian setting. Much of the book’s plot also doesn’t work in America, with the Red Line, the book’s communist faction, seeming incompatible with the United States.  

Glukhovsky has admitted that film producers are afraid of setting the film in Moscow “because Americans have a reputation for liking stories about America”. The writer is currently in talks with a new set of producers and is optimistic about another film deal, especially with the release on 4A Games’ Metro Exodus on the horizon.    
  

  

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