Darren Aronofsky may still be coming out of his “Black Swan” afterglow, but with his calendar now free after dropping out of “The Wolverine,” he’s certainly keeping busy. He’s been mulling over a sci-fi pic with George Clooney, been pursued by two major studios for franchise films and even found time to direct a pair of commercials, all while trying to get his $130 million passion project “Noah” off the ground. Well, it appears his dance card isn’t getting any less full as Variety reports he’s now slated to direct the pilot episode of a new HBO series “Hobgoblin.” We first heard about the series a few months ago and our interest was immediately piqued.
The reason for that initial interest was because the shows creators are acclaimed novelists (and Playlist favorites), husband-wife team Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. He’s the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of novels like “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” and “Wonder Boys,” while she’s a talented writer as well, with her novel “Love And Other Impossible Pursuits” recently adapted into a film (“The Other Woman” with ‘Swan’ star Natalie Portman). Oh, and also because the show is about “a group of con men and magicians who use their skills of deception to help defeat Hitler and the Germans during World War II.” Um, yes please.
This will be Aronofsky’s first time stepping behind the camera for a television series though many will remember he came close once before, as he was originally supposed to direct an episode during season 2 of “Lost” but dropped out due to scheduling issues. It will be interesting to see how he handles the material, and it might be possible he will have a hand in casting the show (as tends to be the case with the director of a show’s pilot episode) so you can now begin speculating who the “ass to ass” guy will be playing in this.
Though HBO seems to have no limits to the amount of money they’re willing to throw at a project they haven’t been able to capture the mix of critical success and massive ratings on the same series since “The Sopranos.” Not that they haven’t tried. “Boardwalk Empire” is one of the most gorgeous looking shows on television but this writer kinda lost interest after the premiere. (And the less said about flagship shows like “Entourage” and “True Blood” the better.) While there’s no guarantee that the “Hobgoblin” pilot will get picked up for a series order, with this much talent behind the camera it’s a pretty safe bet we’ll get a look at the show sometime in 2012.
Yes, you\’re right. Thank you. I knew it was an Eko episode but for some reason I was thinking it was early season 3.
Actually, Darren Aronofsky was supposed to direct a season 2 Lost episode. That was the episode 21 of the season, called \”?\” and centered in the character Mr. Eko.
Good to know that he\’s finally taking a TV project.
There\’s also Neil Gaiman\’s American Gods that they\’re planning, a show that\’s also very expensive (estimated to be about $40 million per season).
Boardwalk Empire is a really good show and one that probably deserves to be seen in big chunks rather than one hour a week slots.
But you failed to mention Game of Thrones, the $50 million-a-season fantasy series that, I must admit, is much better than I thought it would be. I don\’t know how well they\’re doing financially with that, but it seems HBO is trying big things right now and spending big money.