Apple TV+’s stellar selection of sci-fi productions is set to get even bigger, with the streaming nabbing the rights to Murderbot, a new series based on Martha Wells’ award-winning saga The Murderbot Diaries.
The Northman star Alexander Skarsgård is set to take the lead role, with a bevy of very well-established names also attached to the project. The Weitz brothers (who are best known for American Pie but have also previously worked on the likes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Creator, and Mozart in the Jungle) are set to write, direct, and produce. Foundation and The Sandman alumnus David S. Goyer is also set to executive produce.
The 10-episode show is billed as “action-packed sci-fi series” about the title character, who hacks itself and gains independence, by which it mostly just wants to watch soap operas. However, it must deal hide its free will while undertaking a dangerous assignment.
The Murderbot Diaries, meanwhile, is a series of seven books (and counting), which debuted in 2017 with the novella All Systems Red. Three further novellas followed in 2018, completing one arc of the story. Wells has since returned to that universe with three further works: Network Effect in 2020, Fugitive Telemetry in 2021, and System Collapse just last month. Across its run, the series has earned numerous award nominations, including winning three Hugo Awards and two Nebula Awards.
As yet, there’s no word on when the Murderbot series will arrive on Apple TV+.
