Showtime has opted to pass on four in-development television shows, including the planned Gattaca reboot from Homeland creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Gattaca reboot series is no longer moving forward at the Showtime. The same can be said for Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody’s Seasoned, which previously had a series order at the Paramount Global-owned network. Showtime has also dropped two more planned shows: Split and Sweetness. Sony Pictures Television, which produces Gattaca and Sweetness, plans to shop both shows to different outlets.
Why did Showtime pass on Gattaca?
These revelations come after Paramount exec Chris McCarthy began overseeing Showtime last year. McCarthy also oversees MTV, Comedy Central, the Paramount Network, giving him control of almost all the company’s linear networks. Apparently, under McCarthy, Showtime is looking to focus on IPs it owns, rather than licensed properties like Gattaca. Hence, why the network dropped the reboot series from its slate.
Gattaca was originally a dystopian sci-fi film starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, it opened in theaters from Sony Pictures in October 1997. Sony was developing a future-set police procedural based on Gattaca as of 2009, though the project never materialized. Niccol, meanwhile, went on to helm the 2011 film In Time, starring Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake. Niccol described In Time as being a spiritual successor to (or, in his words, the “bastard child” of) Gattaca.
Earlier this year, news broke that Gordon and Gansa had teamed with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Craig Borten to develop a television reboot of Gattaca. At the time, it was reported that the project was being eyed for a “sizable commitment” at Showtime. Furthermore, McCarthy — who is reportedly a big fan of the original film — is said to have seen franchise potential.