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Margaret Atwood's 'MaddAddam' series is in development at HBO

Atwood's acclaimed 'MaddAddam' series will reportedly be the basis for a series of the same name produced by HBO.

'MaddAddam' is by Margaret Atwood.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

HBO is developing a series based on an acclaimed series by author Margaret Atwood.

The network behind other literary adaptations such as George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series and the novel “The Leftovers” by Tom Perrotta reportedly put into development a series based on Atwood’s “MaddAddam” trilogy, according to Deadline. The series consists of the novels “Oryx and Crake,” “Year of the Flood,” and “MaddAddam,” which was released in 2013. 

The series will be titled “MaddAddam” and is being executive-produced by Darren Aronofsky, who has directed films such as “Noah” and “Black Swan.” According to Deadline, Aronofsky could direct it as well.

Atwood’s series takes place in a future world in which corporations rule the globe and scientific experimentation has made genetic modification of creatures quite common. 

The author is also known for novels such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.”

When “MaddAddam” was released, it earned a place on both the Monitor’s 10 best books and Amazon’s 10 picks for that September, the month in which it was released. Monitor fiction critic Yvonne Zipp called “MaddAddam” “sharply satirical.” 

“’MaddAddam’ is a fast-paced, suspenseful novel,” Zipp wrote. “For a book with a death count in the billions, [it] contains a hefty amount of scathing humor.”

HBO’s current season of “Game of Thrones,” based on the novels by Martin, is set to conclude soon and the last season of another literary adaptation, “True Blood,” based on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, is premiering later this month, on June 22. “The Leftovers” is premiering on June 29. Adaptations by the channel of two popular fantasy/sci-fi works, the “Dark Tower” series by Stephen King and the novel “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman, had long been rumored, but the future of a “Tower” adaptation is unclear and it was announced this past February that “Gods” is currently in development at FremantleMedia, according to the Guardian.

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