Sam Esmail intended his cult hit USA Network series, Mr. Robot, as a feature film initially. He soon realized, midway through writing the script, that it had expanded considerably. Esmail shared during an interview that he was fascinated by the hacker culture and wanted to make a project that accurately represented it. He found that a TV series format was best suited for his story.

The series, starring Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek and Christian Slater, explores the story of a hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissociative identity disorder. Mr. Robot ran for five seasons, with Esmail serving as the writer and director of multiple episodes in addition to his showrunning responsibility.

Sam Esmail wanted Mr. Robot to be a TV series so that he could accurately represent hacker culture Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot | Credits: USA Network

Rami Malek‘s Mr. Robot skillfully blended the techno-thriller subgenre into drama.