Darren Aronofsky to Direct Pilot Episode of ‘Hobgoblin,’ From HBO and Michael Chabon

Posted on Thursday, June 16th, 2011 by Russ Fischer

If you were bummed out when Darren Aronofsky left the directorial chair for The Wolverine, you weren’t alone. One of the reasons that I was sad to see him skip out of the job, beyond the fact that I thought he would actually make a very good Wolverine film, was that I’ve really wanted to see what he would do with some pulpy or seriously genre-iffic material. His movies have always suggested that, if let loose with some material rich with fantasy/sci-fi or supernatural overtones, he might produce something genre fans could really chew on.

Enter Hobgoblin. That is the HBO series being developed by Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman, which features Nazi-busting con men and magicians during WWII. Hopefully Darren Aronofsky can really let his genre nerd flag fly with this one, as he’s now lined up to direct the pilot. Read More »

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Michael Chabon Developing ‘Hobgoblin,’ an HBO Show Featuring Nazi-Busting Magicians

Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 by Russ Fischer

Michael Chabon is a literary star (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) whose novels have mostly managed to escape adaptation to film. Both those novels I cited have been in development, but have yet to yield a film. Wonder Boys is the only prominent adaptation, though Mr. Chabon’s first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, got a little-seen adaptation a few years back. (Which, frankly, I’d forgotten even existed. Time to queue that one.)

He’s been more visible as a screenwriter than as an author whose novels are adapted, with credits on Spider-Man 2 and forthcoming films John Carter of Mars; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; and Snow and the Seven. Now Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman have set up a project called Hobgoblin at HBO. It is an original series that will feature magicians, con men and Hitler. Wait, run that by me again? Read More »

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