Gattaca TV Show in the Works at Showtime

A television series adaptation of Gattaca is reportedly in the works at Showtime According to Variety, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa — who were behind the hit series Homeland for the network — are teaming up with Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) to develop the adaptation of the 1997 film. Per the report, exact plot details are not yet available, though Gansa would serve as showrunner and executive producer. Gordon and Borten will also executive produce. Sony Pictures Television will produce, though the deals for the project have not yet been finalized.

The original Gattaca film was released in 1997 with the dystopian film starring Ethan Hawke and Umar Thurman, along with Jude Law, Alan Arkin and more. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the dystopian film was set in a near future where people utilized eugenics to screen their children for genetic defects and thus, created a lower class of people called “in-valids”. In the film Hawke’s character, Vincent, is an “in-valid” who takes on the identity of a genetically “superior” man, Jerome (Law) so that he can pursue his dream of space flight. The film wasn’t a commercial success but was a critical success and was praised for being both intelligent and scientifically provocative.  It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The film has also since gone on to become a cult classic.

The Showtime series is not the first time an adaptation of Gattaca has been attempted. It was previously reported in 2009 that Sony Pictures Television was developing a police procedural take on the film, though that project — which was to have been written by Gil Grant — didn’t move forward.

What do you think? Would you like to see a television adaptation of Gattaca? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.