Alden Ehrenreich to Star in Brave New World TV Series

Back from a galaxy far, far away, Alden Ehrenreich—whose thankless starring turn as a younger facsimile of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s eponymous iconic space smuggler was met with mixed reviews—will take on his first television series regular role, top-lining USA Network’s adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s towering 1932 novel Brave New World.

Per THR, Ehrenreich will portray John the Savage, the arguable protagonist of the novel, so called because he lives outside the social strictures of the comprehensively regulated New World, “a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself,” as USA summarizes.

The Universal Content Productions and Amblin Television production’s full synopsis reads:

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.

USA ordered Brave New World straight-to-series in February, prior to which the adaptation had been languishing in development purgatory since 2015. The iteration finally coming to fruition is led by writer and showrunner David Wiener (Homecoming), who’s flanked by writers Grant Morrison (Happy!) and Brian Taylor (Gamer). Owen Harris, best known for helming Black Mirror fan-favorite “San Junipero,” is directing the first episode.

No word yet on when Brave New World’s first 10 episodes will debut, but we’ll be watching this one closely.