Yann Demange Joins Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams for HBO’s ‘Lovecraft Country’

After winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Get Out, Jordan Peele‘s next project is producing the HBO series Lovecraft Country with J.J. Abrams. On Monday, the producers chose Yann Demange to direct the first episode of the drama.

Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions joined Abrams’ Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television to produce a series based on Matt Ruff’s novel back in May. Misha Green (Underground) signed on to write and act as showrunner, Deadline reported at the time.

On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that British director Demange signed on to direct and executive produce. It will be his first U.S. TV project.

Ruff’s 2016 novel Lovecraft County is about Atticus Black traveling through 1950s Jim Crow America on a search for his father with his uncle and his friend. Not only does the trio have to survive racism, but they also face malevolent spirits inspired by H.P. Lovecraft stories.

“When I first read Lovecraft Country I knew it had the potential to be unlike anything else on television,” Green told Deadline in May. “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.”

Demange was nominated for a BAFTA Award thanks to his 2015 debut film ’71, a 1971-set film about a British soldier abandoned in Belfast after a riot. Demange’s next film is White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey as the father of a teenager who became an FBI informant during the 1980s. It hits theaters on Aug. 17.

Demange was also on the shortlist for directing the next James Bond movie, but his decision to jump to American TV might make that difficult. Danny Boyle, Denis Villeneuve and David MacKenzie have also been considered for the film, which is supposed to hit theaters on Nov. 8, 2019.

Peele became the first black writer to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay Sunday night thanks to his hit horror film Get Out. He was also nominated for Best Picture as a producer and for Best Director. Prior to the film’s release, he was best known as a comedy actor thanks to his work on MADtv and Key & Peele with Keegan-Michael Key.

Peele’s next big project is The Last O.G., a TBS series starring Tracy Morgan, Tiffany Haddish and Cedric The Entertainer. Peele created the series with John Carcieri. The series starts on Tuesday, April 3.

Photo credit: ABC / Rick Rowell