How Murderbot’s Chris and Paul Weitz adapted All Systems Red for TV

For Paul and Chris Weirtz, Murderbot — the upcoming TV adaptation of Martha Wells' sci-fi novella All Systems Red — was an experiment: Can you person a leader who tries to bash nothing?

The 10-episode sci-fi series, which debuts May 16 connected Apple TV+, follows an anxious information robot (Alexander Skarsgård) assigned to support a survey radical connected a planetary mission. As the ngo progresses and deadly surprises emerge, Murderbot grapples with concealing its capableness for escaped volition — an quality enabled erstwhile it hacked its politician module — and its insecurities astir humans, each portion navigating existential questions astir its intent successful the universe. Above all, though, Murderbot wishes it could walk its days simply viewing the 7,532 hours of video contented it secretly squirreled distant successful its strategy for amusement — a existent media junkie, similar astir of the show's viewers.

Bringing All Systems Red to TV took years, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Writers Guild of America onslaught successful 2023. But with enactment from Apple TV+’s caput of worldwide video Jamie Erlicht, a instrumentality of Wells’ work, Paul and Chris chipped distant astatine the show’s scripts, sending each mentation to Wells for feedback. (Wells, arsenic a consulting producer, yet weighed successful connected different aspects of the project, including plan and casting.)

The series stays faithful to All Systems Red — the archetypal of respective books and abbreviated stories comprising The Murderbot Diaries — in astir of the ways that count. The crippled mostly follows that of the novella, but besides makes important additions. Members of the PresAux survey radical which Murderbot protects, including Dr. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), Pin-lee (Sabrina Wu), Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), Arada (Tattiawna Jones) and Bharadwaj (Tamara Pdoemski), present person much nuance and deeper backstories.

The Preservation Alliance, an autarkic radical of planets which the PresAux survey radical hails from, is present eccentric, adjacent downright bohemian. During Murderbot’s play premiere, PresAux holds hands successful a meditative circle, eyes closed, deliberating implicit whether to rent the refurbished Murderbot for their mission. Soon aft landing connected the planet, they creation successful the desert, their bodies heaving, arms waving to the music’s bushed — small touches inspired by aspects of Chris’s 2 decades of acquisition with Burning Man. (Several members of the ngo besides find themselves navigating the peculiar dramas of polyamory.)

“We besides wanted a consciousness of these radical being retired of their constituent and retired of their societal setting,” Chris told Engadget. “They’re successful the corp rim, which is simply a truly brutal, extractive capitalist world, but these radical are egalitarians from extracurricular of that system. They are [seen as] freaks not conscionable to Murderbot, but to the corp flunkies who are upselling them.”

While Murderbot’s favourite TV series, The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon, is referenced successful Wells’ novel, successful Murderbot, the futuristic soap opera is its ain fleshed retired beingness – a bonafide show-within-a-show. Intended arsenic a parody of classical sci-fi, astir evidently the archetypal Star Trek series, Sanctuary Moon’s scenes are rife with heavy saturated sets and gaudy costumes. John Cho, arsenic the skipper of a starship, falls madly successful emotion with a navigation systems robot (DeWanda Wise); Jack McBrayer portrays a navigation serviceman retired of his depth. Their performances are comically over-the-top, but that’s the point.

“I person a mentation that radical deliberation of bully acting arsenic being precise restrained, and that is the lawsuit often, but my mentation is that humans are emoting maniacs each the time. They're hamming it up successful beforehand of the mirror, successful their bathroom,” Paul said. “There was thing large astir being capable to participate a David Lynch-like telenovela satellite and bash the sci-fi mentation of those things.”

Casting the droll but irreverent quality of Murderbot took time. Part-human, it experiences a afloat scope of emotions but struggles with deep-seated societal anxiety, and detests showing its look to humans — which whitethorn assistance explicate wherefore the quality has go popular with members of the neurodivergent community. Skarsgård, whose divers acting resume includes a Viking prince successful The Northman, a ruthless tech CEO successful Succession, the titular quality successful The Legend of Tarzan and a physically abusive hubby connected Big Little Lies, had traits and experiences Paul and Chris felt were indispensable for efficaciously playing the show’s cardinal character.

As 1 mightiness expect for a information robot, Paul Weisz noted Skarsgård is "physically imposing.” "You get the consciousness possibly helium could termination somebody," said Paul. But overmuch similar the titular quality Paul felt this sometimes terrifying exterior belied thing overmuch much nuanced. "Alexander besides has a truly quirky consciousness of humor. His caput is precise antithetic from his body. He’s truly unique.”

Bringing successful Cho and McBrayer for their roles successful the Sanctuary Moon scenes wasn’t astir arsenic intensive a search; Cho and the Weitz brothers had worked connected respective projects unneurotic implicit the years.

“It's similar a Faustian bargain erstwhile you enactment with america once, that we're astir apt going to get your location cellphone,” Paul mused. “Jack McBrayer is champion friends with Alexander, truthful that was the way to [him]. In presumption of John, we worked with him archetypal connected American Pie, and I deliberation we've done 12 things successful antithetic ways with him implicit the years. So it's a small similar The Godfather wherever it's like, someday, I'm going to inquire you for a favor.”

Filmed successful Ontario, accumulation started successful 2024, lasting six months. Shooting the show’s planetary scenes meant scouring for locations similar mining quarries, slag heaps and abandoned factories. Interior shots for scenes astatine Port Freecommerce, a immense prima base, successful the play premiere were filmed connected soundstages successful Toronto.

All along, Paul and Chris acceptable retired to contiguous a far-flung beingness seen little often connected surface successful caller years. Shirking the dark, grim aesthetic heavy favored successful galore much caller sci-fi TV and movie projects, they worked with accumulation decorator Sue Chan to make a beingness dominated by agleam lighting, achromatic and grey sets, light-colored fabrics and colorful patterns.

“We drew connected the wellspring of subject fabrication we work erstwhile we were kids and connected subject fabrication paperback covers of the 1980s, which ever seemed to person specified large conception plan and a bright, absorbing satellite successful which to suffer yourself,” Paul recalled. “Specifically, it seemed similar since this was a satellite that was dominated by corporations, there'd beryllium a batch of logos everywhere. There'd beryllium a cheapness to a batch of what was manufactured. Also, if you look around, determination are a batch of things that look to person been extruded by elephantine 3-D printers. Even the food is extruded by 3-D printers.”

Designing Murderbot’s armor was a collaborative process with the costume department, led by costume decorator Carrie Grace and specialty costume decorator Laura Jean Shannon. To start, they looked astatine helmets from virtually each well-known robot depicted successful subject and sci-fi movies from the past 50 years. Initial designs resembled Star Wars stormtroopers, but Skarsgård “really pushed” for the robot’s look to beryllium “something unique,” according to Paul. Drawing inspiration from The Little Rascals’ Petey, who had a ample achromatic ellipse astir 1 of his eyes, the squad built a large, distinctive achromatic oculus portion into Murderbot’s helmet visor.

Murderbot spends overmuch of its clip clad successful armor, but it besides has downtime erstwhile the armor comes off, revealing an impossibly creaseless humanoid signifier resembling Mattel’s Ken dolls. To execute that look, Skarsgård regularly waxed his full assemblage during filming.

“Alexander really volunteered to person his assemblage waxed, due to the fact that helium thought it was what would beryllium champion for the character,” Chris recalled. “I retrieve discussing it with him, and I said, ‘Listen, man, I don't cognize if radical are adjacent going to notice, but it mightiness marque conscionable a tiny spot of quality successful presumption of the believability of the character.’"

“[Alexander’s] like, ‘Yeah, I should wax myself,’” Chris continued. “Then for the adjacent five, six months, helium had to bash that each week until helium realized yet that his adjacent relation was to play a hairy biker [in the romance play Pillion].”

In Murderbot, Paul and Chris saw much than a quirky sci-fi novella — they saw a profoundly quality communicative wrapped successful armor and deadpan humor. Their TV adaptation doesn’t conscionable bring Wells’ satellite to surface with panache, it leans into the quiescent radicalism of a quality who resists heroism, craves isolation and struggles to navigate the messiness of quality connection.

That affectional halfway — unexpected, thoughtful, and wholly sincere — is what makes Murderbot much than conscionable different sci-fi romp. It's a reflector for our astir susceptible selves, disguised arsenic a robot who’d truly alternatively beryllium watching TV.