Jordan Peele To Produce Jim Crow America Horror Series For HBO

Get Outcreator Jordan Peele is prepping for his next project, which follows in suit with his directorial film debut.

Peele, alongside Misha Green (of Underground fame) J.J. Abrams and Warner Brothers Television, will be adapting Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft Country into a series for HBO. The show will be a one-hour drama that has been given a straight-to-series order by HBO.

Here is a synopsis of Ruff's novel via publisher Harper Collins:

"Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours. At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan's—destruction."

"When I first read Lovecraft Country I knew it had the potential to be unlike anything else on television," Green toldDeadline. "Jordan, JJ, Bad Robot, Warner Bros, and HBO are all in the business of pushing the limits when it comes to storytelling, and I am beyond thrilled to be working with them on this project."

In related news, Peele has also turned down the offer for director of the live-action adaptation of Akira, which he was rumored to have been offered earlier this year.

"I think [I could do it] if the story justifies it," Peele said during an event centered around Get Out’s upcoming DVD release. "Akira is one of my favorite movies, and I think obviously the story justifies as big a budget as you can possibly dream of. But the real question for me is: Do I want to do pre-existing material, or do I want to do original content? At the end of the day, I want to do original stuff."

Source via Deadline