Cult Sci-Fi Novel ‘Metro 2033’ to Be Adapted as Movie (EXCLUSIVE)
By Leo Barraclough
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Russia’s TNT-Premier Studios Company, TV-3 Channel and Central Partnership Film Company – all part of Gazprom Media – have come together to produce a movie based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s sci-fi novel “Metro 2033,” which has also been adapted as a video game.
Filming is due to start next year. The Russian premiere of the movie is scheduled to take place on Jan. 1, 2022. Director and cast have yet to be announced. Exclusive rights to the film will be held by Gazprom Media.
Valery Fedorovich, one of the film’s producers, said: “The book by this Russian author has become known throughout the world, and it is embedded in the cultural code of sci-fi fans and gamers all over the planet. For us and Gazprom Media Holding, this is a dream project, the most ambitious and large-scale film that we have ever launched. We intend to invest an unprecedented sum … in the production and promotion of this movie both in Russia and abroad.”
The post-apocalyptic universe of “” includes Glukhovsky’s original trilogy – “Metro 2033,” “Metro 2034” and “Metro 2035” – more than 100 tie-in novels written by fans from all over the world, and several video games for PС, Xbox, PlayStation that have become worldwide hits. The first novel of the series, “Metro 2033,” has been translated into 40 languages, with more than five million copies sold. This will be the first film adaptation of Glukhovsky’s work.
Glukhovsky said: “’Metro 2033’ is my first novel. It played a very special role in my life, and, despite getting numerous offers to [adapt it for the screen], I turned them all down for over 10 years.
“In Russia, I didn’t see any producers who could make a good [screen adaptation of] this book. It just seemed impossible. But now I finally met a team that I can entrust ‘Metro’ with. Our ambitions turned out to be similar: to create a world-class blockbuster and stun even those who have read the trilogy and know it by heart. So as not to disappoint them, I am ready to become a creative producer of the movie and help create it with both my advice and action.”
Evgeniy Nikishov, another of the film’s producers, said: “In the last decades, a real mass culture cult of post-apocalyptic fiction has taken shape in our country, therefore, it bears great box-office potential.
“Books by the Strugatsky Brothers and , ‘The Fallout’ and ‘The Last of Us’ video games, the ‘Walking Dead’ series, and the ‘Mad Max’ [movies] are just a few titles on the list of those that are popular with Russians of all ages. That’s why we are planning the largest-scale advertising campaign we have ever done.”
Vadim Vereshchagin, Central Partnership director, said: “’Metro 2033’ is a cult novel that has played a great role in the development of a whole generation. Regarding cinema production, this work is difficult to adapt for the screen but it will undoubtedly pay off as a major hit at the box office.”
