Utopia lands Dan Byrd and Cory Michael Smith as co-stars
The Amazon adaptation of the British series Utopia has added two more stars to its cast. Deadline reports that Dan Byrd (Cougar Town) and Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) have joined the remake, which comes from Gone Girl author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn.
Byrd will play Ian, a guy with a soul-stealing job who lives in a small apartment with his grandma in Canton, Ohio. With a desire to live a more exciting life, he embarks on a mission to uncover the secrets of the graphic novel Utopia. Smith will play Thomas, a bright, ambitious kid who works for his biotech scientist father. He becomes tasked with tracking down the only copy of the much sought after graphic novel Utopia.
The two will join the previously announced cast members Rainn Wilson (The Office, Star Trek: Discovery) and Sasha Lane (American Honey). The series was greenlit last April by Amazon.
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Utopia, based on the British series of the same name written by Dennis Kelly, focuses on a group of young adults who meet online and are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come into possession of a near-mythical cult underground graphic novel. They discover the conspiracy theories in the comic’s pages may actually be real and forced into the dangerous, unique, and ironic position of saving the world.
Flynn is the creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Utopia. Jessica Rhoades (who Flynn collaborated with on Sharp Objects), Sharon Hall, Karen Wilson, Dennis Kelly, and Diederick Santer will also serve as executive producers. Sharon Levy, President of Unscripted & Scripted Television for Endemol Shine North America, will oversee production for Endemol Shine.
The series is a co-production between Endemol Shine North America and Kudos, an Endemol Shine Group UK production studio, and Amazon Studios. Utopia will be available exclusively on Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
