HBO has given Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta the go ahead with developing a new drama series, entitled The Leftovers. The new series is based on Perrotta’s book, also named The Leftovers, which explores a world post rapture-like events and how those left behind are coping.
This will be Lindelof’s first major television project since Lost ended in 2012 and his first foray into cable television. Lindelof first read Perrotta’s novel in 2011 and told Vulture he’s wanted in since then. He stated, “The fact that there’s this reaping which occurred, and you don’t make the cut, some of us don’t feel worthy, seemed very ripe territory for a cool character drama.” No news yet on a director or any sort of casting. Based on HBO’s slow burning development strategy, the show likely won’t air until at least 2014.
Predicting potential post-apocalyptic societies is all the rage right now. From TV shows like Revolution to The Walking Dead, more and more people are focusing on the dramatic “what if something major changed the world” scenarios. Us humans have always been intrigued by the idea of some higher power controlling our fate, whether it be alien, God, Mayan calendar, or natural disaster related. From movies such as 2012 to I Am Legend, filmmakers everywhere love to predict what different forces might change the dynamic of society as a whole. Rather than just focus on the world-changing event itself, a television series gives viewers the chance to see an entire emotional and physical journey of those left to pick up the pieces of an otherwise shattered society.
Since The Leftovers is already a critically acclaimed book, chances are it will become a critically acclaimed television series too.
