DevelopmentEdit
Utopia was ordered direct-to-series on April 19, 2018, with an order of nine episodes.[6] It had originally been set up at HBO with David Fincher to direct, but was never produced after a financial dispute.[7][8] On April 19, 2018, Utopia was ordered to series by Amazon.[9] On July 23, 2020, during the San Diego Comic-Con@Home, the first teaser for the series was released and was confirmed to be released in the fourth quarter of 2020.[10] On August 6, 2020, at the TCA virtual panel, showrunner Gillian Flynn announced that there would be less violence than in the British original.[11] The series was released on September 25, 2020.[1] On November 27, 2020, Amazon canceled the series after one season.[2]
In June 2018, it was announced the series would start filming by the fourth quarter of 2018.[12] On August 8, 2018, it was announced the series would consist of nine episodes, and probably have three different directors at work, one every three episodes, although it was later confirmed that there would be eight episodes in the first season. Flynn stated, "It wont have a single director the entire way through. I think well probably have multiple directors. Its nine episodes, so I think well do it in blocks of three, three and three, and not one director, the whole time through."[13]
On October 16, 2019, the creator of the show, Gillian Flynn, announced that the series' filming was completed.[14]
On August 10, 2020, it was revealed that Jeff Russo would compose the music for the series.[15]
During its initial development in 2015, the cast included Rooney Mara, Colm Feore, Eric McCormack, Dallas Roberts, Jason Ritter, Brandon Scott and Agyness Deyn.[16]
In January 2019, Sasha Lane joined the cast of the series.[17] In February 2019, Rainn Wilson, Dan Byrd, Cory Michael Smith, Ashleigh LaThrop, Desmin Borges, Farrah Mackenzie, and Christopher Denham joined the cast of the series.[18][19][20] In April 2019, John Cusack and Jeanine Serralles joined the cast of the series.[21][22] In May 2019, Jessica Rothe, Felisha Terrell and Dustin Ingram joined the cast in recurring roles.[23][24]