HBO's “Lovecraft Country”

Release Date: TBA 2019
Cast: Elizabeth Debicki, Michael K. Williams, Courtney B. Vance, Jamie Harris, Jonathan Majors, Aunjanue Ellis, Wunmi Mosaku, Jurnee Smollet-Bell
Writers: Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, David Knoller, Jordan Peele, Ben Stephenson, Yann Demange
Directors: Yann Demange

With names like J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele behind the camera and a cast consisting of Elizabeth Debicki and Courtney B. Vance in front of it, “Lovecraft Country” would be a big freakin’ deal no matter where the core story sprang from, but familiarity with Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel of the same name only amps up the excitement. HBO’s hourlong horror/drama series follows sci-fi writer Atticus Black (Jonathan Majors) on a road trip across Jim Crow America during the turbulent 1950s. Black is looking for his missing father, an unbending, personal quest which makes the racist threats perking up around him worth tackling — not to mention the H.P. Lovecraft monsters springing to life all around him. If Abrams handles the sci-fi and Peele influences the racial overtones, “Lovecraft Country” could be an intellectually stimulating blockbuster — a la “Get Out” or “Super 8.”