Scribe Michael Chabon and his wife, author Ayelet Waldman, have set up an offbeat drama project at HBO that revolves around a motley group of conmen and magicians who use their skills at deception to battle Hitler and his forces during WWII.
John Lesher and Adam Kassan are exec producing through their Le Grisbi Prods. banner. Project, dubbed “Hobgoblin,” is in the very early stages of development.
Chabon and Waldman will co-write the script, marking the first time they’ve collaborated professionally, and they will also exec produce.
Chabon is a sought-after script doctor and the author of novelsincluding “Wonder Boys,” which was adapted as a feature starring Michael Douglas in 2000 and “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union,” with an adaptation of that novel now in development at Sony with Scott Rudin and Joel and Ethan Coen. He and director Andrew Stanton adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs novel “John Carter of Mars” for Disney, with that pic set for release in March of next year.
Waldman has penned fiction and nonfiction tomes, including “Bad Mother” and “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits,” the latter of which was adapted into the 2009 Natalie Portman starrer “The Other Woman.” She is also writes periodically for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
Chabon and Le Grisbi are repped by UTA. Waldman is with RWSG Agency. Chabon and Waldman are also represented by Mary Evans Inc. and attorney David Colden.
