EXCLUSIVE: 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. It took del Toro a long time to woo creator Urasawa into being comfortable with Hollywood again, which sounds a lot like the process that D.B. Weiss and David Benioff went through with George R.R. Martin before they could get Game Of Thrones off the ground at HBO.
Speaking of that, Monster reunites del Toro with Murphy and Montford, his accomplices in the attempt to turn the H.P. Lovecraft novella At The Mountains Of Madness into a feature film. That ended with Universal getting very close to production — with del Toro directing and Tom Cruise ready to star — only to call a halt because del Toro would not budge on the possibility that the film might come in with an R rating. Well, I believe the filmmaker has again raised the issue with Universal, after that studio just had a global hit with Cruise in the sci-fi film Oblivion. Now, the R rating might again be a sticking point, but this becomes even more tantalizing if del Toro’s upcoming film Pacific Rim is as big as people suspect it will be this summer for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. Those parties are said to be interested if Universal brass is still uncomfortable making a $150 million R-rated 3D movie. Del Toro wouldn’t be able to make it until after he directs his ghost story Crimson Peak, but it seems inevitable. It would be nice to see such a creative filmmaker get to make his passion project. Del Toro is repped by WME and Exile.
Pacific Rim better rock…
MONSTER is the greatest Manga story ever written. It has already been an animated series. If HBO is smart enough to pull the trigger this will be bigger than anything they have even done before.
*the greatest manga..*
No. It’s one of the greatest seinen out there for sure, but you’re coming of as a retarded fanboy.
Do you even know what you’re talking about? If it’s one of the greatest seinen then there’s every possiblity that it’s one of the greatest manga too. Shounen is for a younger audience and even tohugh there is some very good shounen, it can’t really compare to the best seinen.
I don’t agree with him that Monster is the best manga(though it’s probably the best anime). Berserk is the best manga, but calling him a fanboy for thinking that is ridiculous.
You obviously haven’t read much manga. “the greatest Manga story ever written”, to say such a statement is ridiculous, read a better variety of manga and make a more intelligent statement.
i have read tons of manga from tons of genre, name it, seinen, shounen, even shoujou (yes i read shoujou manga like fruit basket and pinguin kakumei), and i can say that Monster is ONE of the greatest story ever made, the character, the plot, man…, Urasawa is a genius and i dare say that this mange is a masterpiece. even though i also can say that 20th century boys have a better twist and mistery
Naoki Urasawa’s MONSTER is the greatest artistic piece I’ve experienced from the Japanese literary canon. And unlike most stuff that are adapted into Western screens these days, ‘Monster’ is pretty much culture neutral and Guillermo del Toro is just the kind of guy who can do justice to this dark masterpiece. Ideally I would’ve preferred that this be feature in Germany sticking faithfully to the language scheme and character ethinicities used in the manga but audiences outside Japan really need to experience in an accessible medium like HBO because it’s criminal how underrated ‘Monster’ is.
I have to agree that this would indeed, be an amazing thing. I loved Monster right off the bat and to see it in live action, and have actors that could go to conventions. I think I would probably die from happiness, after I took a picture with Johan of course. I just really hope they can get the right person for Johan. Cause I mean, there will be those cross dressing scenes. So the actor for Johan has to be able to pass for the actress for Anna.
I believe this would be bigger than Game of Thrones. The writing is incredible and the story is just amazing.
“Monster is the greatest manga…”
That’s not how you spell Berserk…
I remember when Josh Olson and Trilogy Entertainment teamed on this at New Line. There was some drama because they wanted to use Chan Wook Park but it turns out that Japanese Asians hate Korean Asians so that didn’t happen. Then Olson turned in the most pitiful script ever seen and that was that. Great producing by Trilogy on that one! This sounds so much like the perfect combination, the only problem being HBO’s inability to commit.
“There was some drama because they wanted to use Chan Wook Park but it turns out that Japanese Asians hate Korean Asians so that didn’t happen.”
I doubt that that’s what happened.
Ladies and Gentlemen, D.Z is a ridiculous little man who spends his time at Hollywood Elsewhere being mocked for always being wrong. We are honored by his presence.
That is exactly what happened.
is ” “Korean Asians” the proper term, these days?
… I thought they were just “Koreans”
?
Rodney: “That is exactly what happened.”
And you know this, because…?
None of that surprises me. Better times ahead, hopefully.
Well that’s a relief, because Chan Park is a joke compared to Del Toro.
Not to come off catty or jealous, even though I’m both and my presence on a comment board proves it. But how many series/movies/books/comic books/breakfast cereals does GDT have in development now? Super talented dude, but he seems to throw his name on projects with such regularity, you almost have to assume when they announce his name is attached to a property it has like a 13% chance of ever seeing the light of day. I eagerly await the headline “Guilermo Del Toro Attached To… Ahh Forget It, He Already Lost Interest.”
Killogy would make a great TV series. Awesome IDW comic title. Epic.
Urasawa is a genius. His art is insanely good. His stories are pretty great, too. I’m surprised HBO isn’t turning 20th Century Boys into a series….
If Nic Cage wasn’t in an unofficial remake of 20CB called Knowing, I’m sure it’d happen sooner.
Simple. 20CB is too Japanese.
This can be awesome. And maybe it’ll encourage Geneon or whoever owns it to issue the whole anime on region 1 DVD.
The whole series was released on region 1 DVD a few years ago, as well as a full series broadcast on SyFy, and last time I checked, you could watch the whole series (English dubbed) on Netflix streaming.
No longer on Netflix streaming in the U.S., just checked. Sux, it sounds great. Thanks for alerting me to it.
I too really hope Pacific Rim rocks. Del Toro needs to find his niche in film.
lol dubbed. if you really want to appreciate something watch it with subtitles.
Pfffff, some things are better subbed and some are better dubbed. For you to say that everything should be subbed it just says that you are just following the “wapanese” kid anime fanbase that everything in Japanese is perfect. I can tell you this, there are tons of things I have sat down and watched in both English and Japanese and out of the two I found myself preferring the English versions. Yah, sometimes they suck, but you are giving way too much credit to the non English versions. Don’t be a Japan fanboy. Really.
Have you seen the dub of ?
It’ll change your mind.
Actually, Viz Media only released the first 13 episodes on R1 DVD. The rest of it remains unreleased in a physical format. It is streaming, as you noted, though.
The series definitely wasn’t released in full on DVD. Only the first 15 episodes were in a box set. Viz Media didn’t release any more likely due to them having their expectations for sales set way too high. That company has changed recently and started focusing a lot more on releasing anime in full so they may decide to finish it. A lot of people have been asking for it.
Friggin sweet! I’ve been wondering when someone would get around to making this!
So long as they keep to the storyline, respect the characters, and Urasawa’s vision, there is nothing to keep this from being absolutely flawless. The anime and manga are masterpieces of storytelling – a real mystery and thriller. I’ve never seen an author tie together so many plot points into a neat, and wonderful ending. I am beyond excited for this, and can’t wait to see how it turns out.
What’s the likelihood that the main character will stay Japanese?
About 0.000001 percent :(
This has MASSIVE potential. HBO would be FOOLS not to go for this!
TV’s overrated.
If HBO allows Del Toro’s team to do this with the kind of care and faithfulness (in spirit, at least) to the original that we’re getting with Game of Thrones, a Monster series could be amazing.
But the biggest question is, will they keep the ethnicity of the main character?
how important is the ethnicity of the main character, anyway (i mean, the doctor)? will the change affect the storyline greatly? or there can be changes without deteriorating the quality?
but if we’re talking about the ‘boy saved by the doctor’, then I hope they won’t change his (he’s German, as I recall) because a change *will* affect the whole story.
Well, the ethnicity is actually fairly important. Tenma’s presence, as a Japanese neurosurgeon in Germany (and, later, the Czech Republic) is constantly being referenced, as the authorities hunting him down are constantly on the look for a Japanese man, and the language/culture barrier is often addressed, too (though most of these scenes aren’t the most crucial to the plot). I could see them creating a work-around to this if they wanted to cast a non-Asian actor in the role, but I think it would make things needlessly complicated and wouldn’t be the wisest move they could make.
I respect your opinion and you may be right. Though, they could still cast a (let’s say) an American actor in the role but still hold the setting in Germany. The same ethnic and language barrier will still work (only change Japanese to American) and they can make a few tweaks, but still maintain the story quality.
Yes, it may make things needlessly complicated but,just like the Tenma is made Japanese so that Japanese readers can relate, changing the character to American may be a wise choice so that viewers in America can relate to him.
But this is HBO and most of their shows are faithful to the original material so….
Regardless of how Pacific Rim does this summer At The Mountains Of Madness will NEVER be made at Universal. The studio barely had any balls before Battleship and (mega bomb in the making) 47 Ronin and now they have none.
The only hope that this project has of ever seeing the light of day is if Del Toro manages to free it up and take it to somewhere like Warner and/or Legendary.
actually, they took the English dub off of Hulu a long time ago, & only the sub version is available on Netflix. while i like both, i particularly like the work of the dub’s VAs.
Both Guillermo Del Toro and Chan Park Woon are excellent filmmakers in their own rights, Japanese do not hate Koreans. That statement is ignorant and offensive to many. Monster has a very clever premise and HBO teaming up with Mr. Del Toro means quality entertainment for the rest of us.
Oh my goodness this is fantastic news. I don’t read much manga any more (haven’t seen my college days) but I will always make an exception for Naoki Urasawa. He is the greatest manga author of his generation and this series is utterly sublime.
This could be a huge hit — the story is just fantastic. I told folks to expect big things from GOT and I’d be just as confident at an excellent adaptation of this as I was of that.
Calm your tits, guys. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and to be excited about this is perfectly reasonable. If he thinks this is the greatest manga ever then let him think that. There’s no point in calling someone a ‘retarded fanboy’ or ‘ridiculous’ for their point of view, and why waste time doing so?
Truth be told, Monster being one of my favorite pieces of fiction if not THE favorite, I’m definitely /not/ excited about this, as there are many different ways this could go wrong. But I guess that’s natural at this point in time. We’ll see where it goes, and hopefully, the story will be done the amount of justice it deserves.
No Way!!!??? I really enjoyed the anime. With Guillermo del Toro and HBO, this would be one of the most incredible drama/horror tv shows in history!
In his opinion MONSTER is his favorite manga, no need to criticize him over it. I like it a lot as well.
I’ve just started watching Monster after someone told me how good it was, I was skeptical because of it being an anime, but wow was I wrong. HBO you would be fools not to adapt this to a live action series. It may become more popular than even Game of Thrones, simply for the fact it may be more appealing to a broader audience than fantasy. Many people from all walks of life and cultures enjoy ER/scrubs drama, and a good mystery more than fantasy. If this is show faithfully follows the story it will be a smash hit. Since this is a very character driven drama, you need to make very sure you get the right actors for the parts.
can’t wait for the serie
If we’re talking about a japanese actors for the role of Tenma the only good option I see would be Ken Watanabe (known for “Katsumoto” from The Last Samurai among others), which I think could fit well.
Otherwise if we’re just looking for anyone with the general look of Tenma (that would probably then be named something else if he’s obviously American or something?) I always thought John Cusack got a bit of that look.
For the role of Johan it’s even more important to get it right though… Someone who could really do the whole sociopath thing justice… I really can’t think of any good choices (LOTS of bad ones though) so maybe it’s best they get someone new or relatively unknown