Showtime has chosen to abandon four television shows in development, including the planned one Gattaca Reboot from Homeland creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
Accordingly The Hollywood Reporter, the Gattaca reboot series is stuck on Showtime. Ditto for Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody’s Seasoned, which previously had a series order placed with Paramount Global’s own network. Showtime has also canceled two other scheduled shows: Split and Sweetness. Sony Pictures Television, which produces Gattaca and Sweetness, plans to buy both shows from different networks.
Why did Showtime pass on Gattaca?
These revelations come after Paramount executive Chris McCarthy began managing Showtime last year. McCarthy also oversees MTV, Comedy Central and the Paramount Network, giving him control of nearly all of the company’s linear networks. Apparently, under McCarthy, Showtime wants to focus on IPs it owns rather than licensed properties like Gattaca. Because of this, the network removed the reboot series from its list.
Gattaca was originally a dystopian science fiction film starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film was released in theaters in October 1997 by Sony Pictures. Sony developed a future-oriented police procedure based on Gattaca from 2009, but the project never materialized. Niccol, meanwhile, directed the 2011 film In Time, starring Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake. Niccol described In Time as a spiritual successor to (or, in his words, the “bastard child”) Gattaca.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Gordon and Gansa had collaborated with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Craig Borten to develop a television reboot of Gattaca. It was reported at the time that Showtime was looking for a “significant commitment” to the project. Additionally, McCarthy — who is reportedly a huge fan of the original film — reportedly saw franchise potential.