HBO's Lovecraft Country
When I saw the trailer for HBO's Lovecraft Country I got the same sense of anticipation that I got when I saw the trailer for the HBO Watchmen series. The series will premiere on August 16, 2020, and will consist of ten episodes. The official Lovecraft Country website describes the series this way-
"The one-hour drama series based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff, follows Atticus Black as he joins his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. What follows is a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback."
While the trailer and the series description seem to give me an idea of what the series is about, it feels like there is so much more to Lovecraft Country than I'm being led to believe. I can't help but think of how HBO's the Watchmen series wove racism into the plot in such an artful manner and hope Lovecraft Country can pull off the same thing.
One of the compelling things about this series is not only is it horror, but it there's also has magic and the supernatural. From what I've read there's also a sci-fi episode. I love this idea of mixing or jumping back and forth between genres.
Interestingly enough, Lovecraft Country was originally a book written by New Yorker Matt Ruff who is of German ancestry. It says something about how racism and horror is being viewed when we have a white writer who tackles a subject like this. I think there's always that concern that a white writer just won't get it and what they will produce will miss the nuances of racism that only someone who has experienced it all their lives can deliver. I haven't read the book yet, so I can't say much about Matt Ruff's delivery. But the idea that this could become a sub genre of horror (maybe Peele Horror?) that is explored artistically by everyone is exciting.
The cast is full of familiar faces like Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Birds of Prey, Eve's Bayou, True Blood), Courtney B. Vance (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, American Crime Story), and Jonathan Majors(Da 5 Bloods, The Last Black Man in San Francisco). Being a fan of the Wire, it was especially cool to see Michael Kenneth Williams was casted in this series. All in all the, it looks like a solid cast.
As time goes on, I'll be updating this page with more information and hopefully get time to read the book before the series premiere.
The executive producers of the show are:
- Misha Green, who also serves as show-runner, co-created Underground, a series about the Underground Railroad in Antebellum Georgia.
- J.J. Abrams, known for producing and writing Star Trek, Lost, Alias, and Fringe.
- Jordan Peele, known for Us and Get Out
- Bill Carraro, executive producer of American History X, The Tuskegee Airmen, and Blade Runner 2049
- Yann Demange, directed episodes of Top Boy, and the movie White Boy Rick
- Daniel Sackheim, produced episodes of True Detective, Night Stalkers, and the X-Files.
- David Knoller, director, producer and writer, known for Power, Big Love and Freaks & Geeks.