Counterpoint: the far future of Mr. Nobody, which feels well-fleshed out for a considerably smaller budget than most blockbuster sci-fi: http://www.netflix.com/

Counterpoint: the far future of Mr. Nobody, which feels well-fleshed out for a considerably smaller budget than most blockbuster sci-fi: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70117580 http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70117580 Star Trek TNG also managed to pull off utopia on a budget, although who knows if that would be feasible in today's fractured TV landscape; at the time, TNG was nearly the only sci-fi game in town. While cost is a benefit for dystopian media (ie, Snowpiercer), it's also just easier to tell a story in those universes, as the conflict comes baked in.