One of my favorite filmmakers out there today is Guillermo del Toro. He has been crazy busy the last year or so, and with good cause. He’s currently putting the finishing touches on his upcoming giant monster epic, Pacific Rim, while he’s already in pre-production on his next directing gig for the haunted house film, Crimson Peak. All the while trying to get his passion project, H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness off the ground. Today, word comes that he will also be working with HBO on an adaptation of the Japanese Manga series of Monster.
Deadline is reporting, HBO and Guillermo del Toro are teaming on Monster, developing a potential series culled from a series of 18 volumes of Japanese Manga by author Naoki Urasawa published by Shogakukan Inc. Del Toro will co-write the story with Steven Thompson, best known for his work on Dr. Who and Sherlock. Thompson will write the pilot, which del Toro intends to direct.
The thriller is about the worldwide search by a young doctor for the most evil sociopath that has ever lived. He is a 12-year-old boy, and the doctor’s decision to save his life has unwittingly unleashed a Pandora’s Box that leaves the doc battling to stop a plot of mass genocide. This is certainly a departure for HBO, entering the Manga game, but for del Toro and Thompson, it allows them an incredible sandbox to play in. Del Toro will be executive producer and Thompson co-executive producer, with Angry Films’ partners Don Murphy and Susan Montford executive producing with Exile’s Gary Ungar. Shogakukan will be consulting producer.
This project was originally set at New Line, but proved too sprawling to confined to a feature film.
Fans would love to see Michael Berryman in a major reaccuring roll in one of these upcoming projects.