HBO Orders Horror Anthology Series Lovecraft Country From Jordan Peele

With his debut feature Get Out, Jordan Peele went from being known as one-half of the comedy duo Key and Peele to being recognized as one of the hottest film directors in Hollywood. The movie’s unique combination of old-fashioned slow-building horror and humorously biting social commentary proved a hit with audiences, and sent Peele soaring up the ranks of the movie business.

With Get Out doing unexpectedly huge box office, Peele has seen loads of movie offers coming his way, including chances to jump on-board high profile projects (like a planned live-action version of Akira). But Peele has made it clear that rather than just become another director churning out franchise films, he wants to develop original material.

It may not exactly be a piece of original material, but Peele’s new project is very intriguing and seems right up his alley. As reported by The Wrap, Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions company will join Underground creator Misha Green and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot to produce Lovecraft Country, a horror anthology series for HBO. The series is based on a novel by Matt Ruff and traces the journey of 25-year-old Atticus Black and two companions across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of Black’s missing father. Along the way, the trio not only encounters horrific racism but other more supernatural horrors (hence the title’s reference to Lovecraft).

Peele will reportedly serve as an executive producer on the series along with Abrams and Ben Stephenson of Bad Robot and Green, who will also be writing the pilot and taking on the role of showrunner. Green has won acclaim for her WGN America series Underground, a period drama that tells the story of Harriet Tubman and the famed Underground Railroad. Sony has reportedly been considering shopping Underground around amid reports that WGN America plans to get out of the scripted series business.

In addition to his involvement in Lovecraft Country, Peele also is reportedly developing a new thriller as part of his recently announced first-look deal with Universal. Peele has said he plans to continue mixing social commentary into his genre projects, and Lovecraft Country certainly seems to be hitting those notes, while also providing Green a chance to once again exercise her sure hand at period storytelling.

For HBO, Lovecraft Country marks a return to the horror anthology format popularized by their classic ’80s series Tales From the Crypt. Peele’s fellow Blumhouse-affiliated horror maven M. Night Shyamalan was at one point reportedly trying to revive Tales but those plans have apparently hit some snags.

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