Update: Reps for Darren Aronofsky say reports about this acquisition are not true.
Oh hey, have you heard? TV is the place to be these days if you want to launch original programming and pretty much every acclaimed director you know — Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Spike Lee, Todd Haynes, David Gordon Green, Philip Kaufman, David Fincher (and more) — are directing/developing projects away from the big screen and for one simple reason: cable networks are much more willing to take on the kind of “riskier” or non-tentpole style flicks that studios are shying away from. Darren Aronofsky has certainly noticed the shifting tide and earlier this summer, he signed on to direct the pilot episode of Michael Chabon‘s “Hobgoblin” for HBO. And now his production company, Protozoa Pictures, are looking to expand their foothold on your television.
The company has picked up the rights to Daryl Gregory‘s awkwardly named book “Pandemonium” and clunky title aside, it boasts a pretty interesting premise that they hope to develop into a television series. The story is set in alternate history where demon possession is accepted and is something like a disease, with a “strain” taking hold and taking over control of a person, causing destruction, and then moves on to somebody else. The story follows Del Pierce who has a curious twist on the affliction. Instead of moving on, his Hellion has stayed with him since the age of five and now in his 20s, he sets to excise the demon from his body. Pretty cool, right?
Blastr compares the tone of the 2009 World Fantasy Award finalist to that of “Fallen” and “Frailty” and while stuff like “Game Of Thrones,” “True Blood” and “The Walking Dead” have proven horror has a place on TV, this sounds like it has a bigger psychological angle to it, an element Aronofsky and his stable are certainly familiar with.
But the author cautions to keep that excitement realistic, writing on his website: “This is just an option, the first step in a staircase of a million steps, and options that make it all the way to the small or large screen are the exception rather than the rule. The rare exception, I’ve been told. So don’t get too excited, Mom.” So we’ll keep an eye out for now. Obviously, it’s too early to tell how involved Aronofsky will be be but it’s pretty safe bet that he’ll be at the very least producing and we’d guess he’ll get the behind the camera for an episode or two.
Meanwhile, Aronofsky is still hoping to get his long gestating “Noah” moving though word has quieted on that front recently, and it will have to wait until Christian Bale wraps up with “The Dark Knight Rises” anyway.