FX scraps plans for Noah Hawley's Cat's Cradle adaptation

Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley announced he was working on an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle for FX back in 2015, as part of his overall deal with the network. The limited series was reported to begin filming in 2020, but it never reached the production stage. Now, FX Chairman John Landgraf announced during the TCA 2021 summer press tour that the show’s been scrapped altogether.

“As for The Cat’s Cradle, we made a decision not to move forward with that at FX. We still have an overall deal with Noah Hawley. As a studio, FX is still very supportive of Noah and his desire to make that. So if there’s another entity that wants to support and commission that, that will move forward, but not under the FX brand,” says Landgraf.

But while the Cat’s Cradle series is a no-go, Hawley is working on an Alien TV series. Last month, Hawley gave an update on the series, telling Vanity Fair that he’d written two episodes already and that it’d be set on Earth. At TCA, Landgraf gave a bit more insight on what fans of the Ridley Scott movies can expect from Hawley’s take on the story.

“Noah’s very conscious of the fact that there’s a cinematic universe, if you will. While it has some flexibility, the aesthetic [was] established by Ridley Scott and continued by James Cameron,” says Landgraf. “Scott Free and Ridley Scott are very involved in this as producers. While I think you’ll see some inventiveness and some originality that is uniquely Noah, I also think that this show will feel like a part of the cinematic universe you’re familiar with, in terms of Alien.”

He also mentioned that he’s optimistic the show will “probably roll out in 2023" but notes that FX wants to “get this one right and we’re going to take the time to do that.”