Metro 2033 Movie Adaptation Announced

A movie adaptation of Metro 2033 is in the works, according to the latest development in a string of efforts to get the novel onto the big screen. Variety reported that Gazprom Media, a Russian media holding, and its various companies will be producing the film that’s based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novel of the same name. Many people will likely recognize Metro 2033 from the video game adaptation and the other games in the series, but this movie adaptation will take direction from the book.

Gazprom Media will have exclusive rights to the movie which is scheduled to premiere on January 1, 2022, according to Variety. The filming is scheduled to begin next year, and while only the Russian premiere was specifically mentioned, there has been talk of promoting the movie elsewhere.

Metro 2033 was the first novel in Glukhovsky’s series and features a post-apocalyptic setting filled with survivors, factions, and politics. A nuclear war has forced people into living underground in the metro tunnels underneath Moscow where managing resources and fending off outside threats are imperative for survival.

“The book by this Russian author has become known throughout the world, and it is embedded in the cultural code of sci-fi fans and gamers all over the planet,” said Valery Fedorovich, a producer working on the film. “For us and Gazprom Media Holding, this is a dream project, the most ambitious and large-scale film that we have ever launched. We intend to invest an unprecedented sum … in the production and promotion of this movie both in Russia and abroad.”

This is not the first time that a movie adaptation of Metro 2033 has been announced. MGM was previously heading up the adaptation of Metro 2033, but the rights reverted back to the author at the end of 2018 following problems with the script. The movie was planned to take place in Washington D.C., a location which wouldn’t mesh well with really any of the themes or plot elements found in the book. Glukhovsky regained the rights to the film and began working with other unnamed producers at the time.

“Metro 2033 is my first novel,” the author said. “It played a very special role in my life, and, despite getting numerous offers to [adapt it for the screen], I turned them all down for over 10 years.”

The movie adaptation of Metro 2033 will premiere on January 1, 2022.