USA picks up Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World straight-to-series
USA Network has announced a straight-to-series adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic dystopian novel Brave New World.
Now is the time for dystopian thrillers and allegorical narratives as the Brave New World series adaptation has moved from the smaller SyFy network to it’s larger sister company USA Network.
The series, based on Aldous Huxley’s classic 1932 novel of the same name, has been in development since at least 2015. David Wiener (Homecoming), Grant Morrison (Happy!) and Brian Taylor (Happy!, Crank) have written the series script.
Wiener is perfect to give the narrative the appropriate dramatic weight, while Taylor and Morrison can easily tap into the absurdity and melodrama of the futuristic society.
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Aldous Huxley’s novel was groundbreaking for its time, and while reading it now some of the issues may seem a little too black and white, there is still incredible thought-provoking material to explore and many ways in which to interpret the novel.
The story is set in a future in which monogamy and family have been abolished, a caste system put in place, and thought conditioning made a mandatory part of education. In addition, most of the population takes a calming drug called Soma that lulls them into complacency.
Most fall in line easily, but others are dissatisfied by the restrictions put on their lives, art, and work. When a “savage” – who is natural born with familial ties and Christian morals – comes to the city and learns the strange customs of this society, he is horrified.
And while most of the population is fascinated by this man’s outdated ideals, they are equally dismissive and shocked by him.
Modern readers might find some merit in this futuristic society, just as they might find some merit in some of the savage more traditional (conservative) morals. For the most part, though, members of both behave atrociously towards each other.
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It should be interesting to see how a modern series adaptation interprets and presents the story. Wiener, Morrison, and Taylor executive produce along with Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Owen Harris. Wiener will serve as showrunner, while Harris will direct the first episode.