EXCLUSIVE: HBO has put in development drama series MaddAddam, executive produced by Oscar-nominated Black Swan helmer Darren Aronofsky through his Protozoa Pictures banner. The project, based on Margaret Atwood’s book trilogy Oryx and Crake (2003), Year Of The Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013), is being developed as a potential directing vehicle for Aronofsky. MaddAddam marks the first project to come out of the three-year first-look deal the filmmaker and his Protozoa Pictures inked with HBO in January.

The story in the MaddAddam books, part of Atwood’s self-described genre of “speculative fiction,” is set in the mid-21st century in a world where corporations have taken over for governments and the genetic modification of organisms is perversely ubiquitous. It centers on the events before and after a Waterless Flood that wipes out almost all of the world’s population and follows an extensive cast of characters, including those responsible for the apocalypse and those struggling to survive it. Producer Brandi-Ann Milbradt, who is engaged to Aronofsky, brought the project to Protozoa and will serve as executive producer alongside Aronofsky and his longtime collaborator, Protozoa Pictures president Ari Handel. Atwood serves as consulting producer. Aronofsky and his team are currently meeting with writers.

Aronofsky is coming off the success his most recent feature, biblical epic Noah, which has grossed $345M in worldwide box office. On the feature side, his Protozoa Pictures also has a deal with New Regency, also inked in January.