Australia’s Aquarius Films has joined with the U.S.’s Anonymous Content to produce a futuristic crime thriller series “The Subjugate.” The series is an adaptation of a book of the same title by Amanda Bridgeman.
The story follows a pair of detectives who, in 2040, are called on to investigate a series of murders in a religious community which has turned its back on technology and the modern world. The obvious suspects are formerly violent offenders who have been turned into servants, but the town’s puritan citizens are also hostile and keen to avoid having their society and its institutions probed.
The original novel was published in 2018 by Angry Robot Books, and is the first part of a planned trilogy. The second book, “The Sensation” was released worldwide in October 2020 through Angry Robot Books (U.K.). Bridgeman is currently working on the final book in the series.
Aquarius Films acquired the development and production rights to “The Subjugate.” The long format series will be produced by Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford for Aquarius and Luke Rivett and Ryan Cunningham for Anonymous. No screenwriter, showrunner, director or distributor details were revealed.
“Amanda has created an incredibly complex world that examines the bonds between good and evil and what happens when the lines between the two are blurred,” said Rivett and Cunningham in a statement.
“ ‘The Subjugate’ explores topical themes of rehabilitation, recidivism and advancing technology in a captivating near-future science fiction thriller and is perfect raw material for a compelling TV series,” said Fielder and Staniford.