‘Under the Skin’ TV Series to Draw From Novel and Remain ‘Very Respectful’ of Movie

“Under the Skin” is taking one giant leap closer to becoming a television series as financing and production company Silver Reel has won the rights to create a show based on Jonathan Glazer’s acclaimed 2014 drama. Silver Reel financed Glazer’s “Under the Skin” and beat out the film’s distributor A24 in a heated bidding war for TV rights to the project. Deadline reports Silver Reel “bid $906,000 in cash and credit for the film collateral and reserved rights, which includes spin-offs of the ‘Under The Skin’ brand. A24 offered $175,000 in cash for the film rights and a first option on the TV rights.”

Glazer wrote “Under the Skin” with Walter Campbell and adapted the project from Michael Farber’s 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien who roams around Glasgow seducing men and harvesting their bodies for her home planet. The alien’s mission is complicated when she begins developing feelings for humanity. The script takes a stripped down approach to Farber’s novel, but Silver Reel CEO Claudia Bluemhuber says the show “will draw a lot from the novel on which the film is based” while remaining “very respectful” to Glazer’s vision.

Bluemhuber added, "We have writers in mind and we are talking to the various agencies for writers at the moment. We would like the writer to be British.”

Deadline reports that Glazer and “Under The Skin” producer James Wilson have long been in discussion with the Silver Reel CEO about creating a spin-off project from the movie, but an “Under the Skin” follow-up never became “a front-burner project.” Whether or not Glazer and Wilson are involved in the “Under the Skin” television show remains to be seen. The duo are currently working on Glazer’s next feature film, an untitled Holocaust drama.

Any “Under the Skin” television series that materializes in the future will have sky high expectations given the adored reception of Glazer’s movie. IndieWire named “Under the Skin” the second best movie of the 2010s in a list of the last decade’s best films published in summer 2019. Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was the only film that ranked higher. Glazer’s “Under the Skin” is now streaming on Netflix.

indiewire.com