Director to pitch project to other companies; adaptation to "likely happen somewhere next year"

In an interview with media news website Latino-Review that the site posted on October 16, director Guillermo del Toro ( Pacific Rim , Hellboy ) stated that he is currently pitching his planned adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's Monster suspense manga to other companies. While he initially developed the show as a possible series for HBO, he stated in the interview that the show is "out of HBO."

del Toro also noted in the interview that he had finished writing "a couple of episodes" for the show to pitch to companies, and that it will "likely happen somewhere next year."

New Line Cinema acquired the feature film rights to the manga in 2005, and even assigned a writer, Josh Olson (Batman: Gotham Knight), to pen two possible films. However, Deadline reported that the project grew too big for a feature or two. del Toro then convinced Urasawa to allow him to tackle the project.

The Hollywood Reporter had previously reported in September that del Toro's Pacific Rim 2 sequel had been "halted indefinitely," although del Toro later stated that it was "not gone." del Toro's latest film, Crimson Peak , opened on October 16.

Viz Media published the Monster manga, as well several other titles by Urasawa, in North America. The company is currently reprinting the manga in oversize "Perfect Edition" releases, and it published the sixth "Perfect Edition" volume on Tuesday. Viz Media also released the Monster television anime series, and the anime ran on the television channel Syfy in the United States from 2009 to 2010.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.

[Via Crunchyroll]