Jonathan Swift’s classic satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels is getting a fresh, ambitious retelling for the small screen, with Italian filmmaker Uberto Pasolini attached as the showrunner. The series aims to provide a fun, feel-good vibe to the 18th-century tale, whilst keeping its sharp social commentary. Pasolini, a former investment banker cum director best known for his work on the 2013 drama Still Life and the 1997 hit The Full Monty (as producer), appears to be a fitting choice to steer the revival of Gulliver’s Travels.

Published in 1726, Gulliver’s Travels follows the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, an intrepid voyager who encounters various societies, including the diminutive Lilliputians, the giant Brobdingnagians, the scientifically-obsessed Laputans, and the noble yet detached Houyhnhnms. A classic part of English literature, the four-part book combines adventure with savage satire, mocking English customs and the politics of the day.

British writer William Ivory (‘We Want Sex,’ ‘The Great Escaper’) has been tapped to pen the screenplay for the six-episode project. Though details surrounding the production timeline remain under wraps, the adaptation is expected to take creative liberties, while still paying homage to Swift’s original text. This balancing act will seek to touch on matters around historical British politics and its impact around the world whilst still maintaining a touch of humour. In an interview with Variety, Pasolini said:

“What Gulliver allows us to do today is to make something really, really fun, but at the same time – very much like Swift did in his time – to talk about the world around us; to talk about politics; to talk about greed; to talk about the place of the Western man in the world as a whole; to talk about the relationship between man and nature. All that stuff was there in the original. And it sort of begs to be re-explored. Swift was having fun with his material, with his politics, with his scatology, with his obsession with the ship and sex and piss and action and all that kind of stuff.”

There Is Another ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ Project In The Works And Pasolini Isn’t Fazed

It’s not often that you find two adaptations of the same book in production at the same time. Moonriver and Federation Studios announced in January that a contemporary remake was underway with BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning writer Tom Bidwell at the helm of the six-part television series which seeks to see the story “through the eyes of Gulliver’s 21st-century wife and children, as they embark together on a lifesaving mission.” Responding to questions about the viability of both projects brewing at about the same time, Pasolini says:

“I don’t think there’s a big risk in there being two [“Gulliver’s Travels”] projects on the market, especially since they are doing a contemporary adaptation”. Speaking on the decision to give it a contemporary tilt, Pasolini questions the rationale: “To me, it feels like fear and not trusting that an audience will recognize themselves in someone who doesn’t dress, or move, in worlds that they recognize.”

Pasolini‘s Gulliver’s Travels is billed to commence production towards the end of 2025.

via Collider