The series is an American remake created by Gillian Flynn, based on the 2013 British original series of the same name.

Utopia was originally set up at HBO with David Fincher attached to direct, but it was never produced due to a financial dispute before Amazon later ordered it direct-to-series in 2018.

Showrunner Gillian Flynn announced at a TCA virtual panel in August 2020 that the American version would contain less violence than the British original.

The series was ordered direct-to-series with nine episodes, but the final season ultimately consisted of eight episodes.

Gillian Flynn planned to have multiple directors work in blocks of three episodes each rather than a single director for the whole series.

Filming was confirmed complete by creator Gillian Flynn on October 16, 2019.

Composer Jeff Russo was revealed to be scoring the series' music on August 10, 2020.

During the show's initial development in 2015, the cast was expected to include Rooney Mara, Colm Feore, Eric McCormack, Dallas Roberts, Jason Ritter, Brandon Scott, and Agyness Deyn, none of whom appeared in the final version.

Amazon canceled the series after just one season in November 2020, only two months after its release.

Critics noted that the show's release coincided poorly with the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively affected its reception given its subject matter.