Discussion Guillermo del Toro Develops Monster as Possible HBO Show

[Teeba]

The entertainment news website Deadline reported on Wednesday that acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim) is developing Naoki Urasawa's suspense manga Monster into a possible television series for HBO. Del Toro and Steven Thompson (Dr. Who, Sherlock) will write the pilot that del Toro will direct. Deadline describes the story:

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.​

Angry Films' Don Murphy (live-action Transformers) and Susan Montford are executive producers along with del Toro. Thompson will serve as a co-executive producer, and Shogakukan — the publisher of the original manga — will be a consulting producer.



New Line Cinema acquired the feature film rights to the manga in 2005, and even assigned a writer, Josh Olson (Batman: Gotham Knight), to pen two possible films. However, Deadline reported that the project grew too big for a feature or two. Del Toro then convinced Urasawa to allow him to tackle the project.

Found on ANN. What do you guys think? I know Monster has been in development hell for a while, but I think this time it might actually happen. A mini series sounds way more convincing than a 2 hour Hollywood movie, for one thing. Secondly, Monster's storyline has a cross-cultural appeal to it that means it'll be easier to adapt.

 

[Asarii]

I also agree that adapting Monster for a TV show would be much easier and better than a movie. HBO is one of the most popular networks out there so hopefully it will give Naoki Urasawa and manga in general a boost.

My only concern is that I don't want them to whitewash Dr. Tenma. Hopefully they can find an Asian actor who can speak German and/or English.

 

[jakensama]

Monster...is one of my absolute favorites, if I had to pick one anime series I consider best this would be it. HBO miniseries is perfect as they could minimize cuts of story (unlike a movie) and there won't be concern about censorship. Del Toro seems like a really good fit, I hope this actually happens.

 

[Doraku]

A mini-series perhaps, but not a long running one. I think two or three seasons should be suffice for HBO to convey Naoki's magnum opus close to perfection. Obviously there's going to be some changes here and there, but hopefully they won't ruin the original work. I'm supporting the idea, in general.

 

[MattC302]

I hope they make it different enough that it feels like its own thing. I definitely don't want to see a scene for scene adaptation.

 

[poncho1]

Del Toro: HBO Monster Show Would Follow Manga Closely

http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/n...o/hbo-monster-show-would-follow-manga-closely