Writer director producer Guillermo del Toro is a whirlwind of activity. Not all of his projects that we report here come to fruition, but the sheer volume would make that impossible. The latest project headed into development is a series on HBO based on the 18-volume manga series Monster, by Naoki Urasawa.

The series centers on a doctor who saved a 12-year-old’s life, only to have that boy grow up to be a serial killer. It was made into a 74-episode anime series that aired in Japan 2004-5 and is currently available on Hulu and iTunes.

Del Toro will co-write the story with Steve Thompson, who wrote the next episode of Doctor Who, “Journey to the Center of the TARDIS” as well as last season’s “The Curse of the Black Spot” and three episodes of Steven Moffatt’s Sherlock. He will be writing the script for the Monster pilot, and Del Toro will direct.

The report from Deadline gives the impression that the series will be animated but didn’t clearly specify, so it’s possible it is being developed as a live action series. Either way, here’s hoping it will be picked up to series; I’ll definitely be watching.

We’ll definitely keep you posted.