Apple TV+ announced on December 14, 2023 that it had officially picked up Murderbot, a 10-episode science-fiction series based on Martha Wells’ bestselling Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning book series The Murderbot Diaries, published by Tor.com. The series is directed by Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Mozart in the Jungle) under their Depth of Field banner and hails from Paramount Television Studios.
What is Murderbot about?
Based on Wells’ award-winning books, Murderbot is an action-packed sci-fi series about an android, known in-universe as a ‘Security Unit (SecUnit)’ or ‘Murderbot,’ who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable “clients.” Occurring before the beginning of the Murderbot Diaries, the series’ titular android develops independence after hacking into and overriding its governor module, a construct designed to monitor a SecUnit’s behavior that can deliver painful, sometimes fatal punishment if a ‘bot does something anomalous.
Afraid of its alterations being discovered, Murderbot must hide its free will and complete dangerous assignments for the corporation that made it. However, what it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe. (Relatable.) Will it get that chance?
In the books, although Murderbot finds connection and emotion inconvenient at first, as it spends more time with a series of caring clients, both human and fellow artificial intelligence, it can’t help but develop friendships and emotional connections.
Who’s been cast in Murderbot (so far)?
Murderbot received a blinking green light a year ago, per Deadline. However, the casting of the show’s titular character was interrupted by the SAG-AFTRA strikes. But now, with the longest actors’ strike against major studios in Hollywood history recently ending, Apple TV+ has started to release casting announcements for the highly anticipated series. On December 14, 2023, it was announced that the show’s executive producer, Emmy Award-winning actor Alexander Skarsgård (Succession, The Stand), has been cast as Murderbot.
Already, there’s been some controversy surrounding the casting of Skarsgård, a cis man, as Murderbot, an android with no sexual characteristics (because, in Murderbot’s words, why would it need them, it’s not a sex bot).
On February 28, 2024, the series got another update, as Deadline announced David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, The Last Voyage of the Demeter) has also been cast in the show. Dastmalchian will play the role of Gurathin, a reticent augmented human scientist with loner tendencies who is part of the survey team alongside Murderbot.
Who are the creatives behind Murderbot?
The Academy Award-nominated creators and directors, the Weitz Brothers, will direct, write, and produce Murderbot under their Depth of Field banner. The brothers shot to fame in 1999 with an Adam Herz-penned raunchy comedy they directed and produced, American Pie, which became a major box office success, grossing $235,483,004 worldwide. They went on to co-write and co-direct 2002’s About a Boy, starring Hugh Grant and based on the book by Nick Hornby, for which they were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. More recently, Paul wrote and directed Fatherhood, starring Kevin Hart, while Chris wrote The Creator and is currently working on the post-production of his next feature, They Listen.
Murderbot is executive-produced by Andrew Miano, David S. Goyer, and Keith Levine for Phantom Four. The series marks the second collaboration between Goyer and Apple TV+, who serves as showrunner and executive producer on the Apple Original epic Foundation, which recently aired its second season.
Is author Martha Wells involved in the making of the Murderbot series?
Yes. Wells is serving as a consulting producer.
Is there a trailer?
No. The series was just given a green light. It may be a while before there’s a first look at the series, but we can’t wait to see what this team is cooking up.
(featured image: Tor)
