Peacock

If you’ve already binge-watched everything on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, CBS All Access, and Quibi, good news!  NBCUniversal’s Peacock is set to arrive nationally on July 15.  (Comcast is currently offering previews via Xfinity X1 and Flex.)  Unfortunately, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 crisis, not everything that Peacock hoped to offer upon launch will be there, but for sci-fi fans, one original series will be there on Day 1– the live-action adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’.  This series was originally developed for the USA Network, but mid-production, the decision was made to shift it over to Peacock.

Speaking to Deadline, Peacock Chairman Matt Strauss stated:

“We’re all unclear when exactly things are going to go back to normal and we’re going to be able to pick up where we left off with certain aspects of the original productions.  We are very very optimistic that there’s a handful of originals that we will have. ‘Brave New World’, is essentially done, ‘Psych’ movie is also done and some of the reboots like ‘Punky Brewster’ and ‘Saved By The Bell’, we feel optimistic that we can also have them available in 2020 as well as a few others.”

As you may recall, Sam Esmail (‘Mr. Robot’) is developing a new ‘Battlestar Galactica’ series set within the same continuity of the 2000s-era Ronald D. Moore SyFy series.  Peacock will also host the original series.

As for ‘Brave New World’, it was adapted for TV by David Wiener, Grant Morrison, and Brian Taylor.

As citizens of New London, Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne have only ever known a rigid social order, a perfect pharmaceutical called Soma, and a culture of instant gratification and ubiquitous sex. Curious to explore life beyond the strictures of their society, the two New Worlders embark on a vacation to the Savage Lands, where they become embroiled in a harrowing and violent rebellion. Bernard and Lenina are rescued by John the Savage, who escapes with them back to New London. John’s arrival in the New World soon threatens to disrupt its utopian harmony, leaving Bernard and Lenina to grapple with the repercussions. The three become entwined in a fraught relationship that awakens them to the dangers of their own conditioning.

Alden Ehrenreich stars as John the Savage, with Jessica Brown Findlay as Lenina Crowne and Harry Lloyd as Bernard Marx.  Demi Moore has a recurring role as John’s mother, Linda.  The regular cast also includes Kylie Bunbury as Lenina’s best friend, Frannie; Hannah John-Kamen as hedonistic artist, Wilhelmina “Helm” Watson; Sen Mitsuji as Henry Foster, one of Bernard’s co-workers at The Bureau of Stability; Joseph Morgan as Epsilon CJack60; and Nina Sosanya as Mustafa Mond, a “World Controller who is responsible for maintaining New London’s social structure and utopian promise.”

Look for ‘Brave New World’ when Peacock launches on July 15.