Lovecraft Country

This article is about the TV series. You may be looking for the real world novel that inspired the series, or the in-universe novel of the same name.

Lovecraft Country is a drama horror television series based on Matt Ruff's novel of the same name. It premiered on HBO on August 16, 2020.

On September 1, 2020 HBO has announced Lovecraft Country: Sanctum, a series of exclusive virtual reality events transporting invited guests into a world inspired by the show. The series aired Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.

On February 3, 2021 the series was nominated for Best Drama Series for the 78th annual Golden Globe Awards.^[1] July 13, 2021, the series was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards including 17 nominees.^[2]

On July 2, 2021, HBO announced that the series would not be returning for a second season.^[3]

Synopsis[]

Lovecraft Country follows "Atticus Freeman as he joins up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback."

the TV series, explores the connection between H.P. Lovecraft’s horror stories and racism during the Jim Crow era of the United States.

Seasons[]

Main article: Season 1

Credits[]

Cast[]

Main[]

Jonathan Majors as Atticus "Tic" Freeman^[4]
Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Letitia "Leti" Lewis^[5]
Wunmi Mosaku as Ruby Baptiste^[6]
Aunjanue Ellis as Hippolyta Freeman^[7]
Courtney B. Vance as George Freeman^[7]
Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose Freeman^[8]
Abbey Lee as Christina Braithwhite^[9]
Jada Harris as Diana Freeman
Jamie Chung as Ji-Ah^[9]

Recurring[]

Jamie Harris as Sheriff Eunice Hunt
Jordan Patrick Smith as William^[9]
Jamie Neumann as Dell and and Hillary Davenport^[10]
Erica Tazel as Dora Freeman^[10]
Mac Brandt as Seamus Lancaster^[10]
Tony Goldwyn as Samuel Braithwhite^[11]

Crew[]

Jordan Peele (Co-Creator / Writer / Executive Producer)
Misha Green (Co-Creator / Writer / Executive Producer)
J.J. Abrams (Executive Producer)
Ben Stephenson (Executive Producer)
Yann Demange (Executive Producer)
Bill Carraro (Executive Producer)
David Knoller (Executive Producer)

Trivia[]

HBO Has set the premiere of its drama series Lovecraft Country for 9 p.m. Sunday, August 16.^[12]
Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions is teaming with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Warner Bros Television on Lovecraft Country.^[13]
Peele will be executive produce along with Misha Green, J.J. Abramsand Ben Stephenson.^[13]
- The pilot will be written by Misha Green and she also serves as showrunner.^[13]
- David Knoller will also executive produce.^[14] He executive producer on Episode 1.^[12]
- Yann Demangeis set to direct and executive produce the first episode.^[15]
- Daniel Sackheim will also executive produce and direct.^[9] He directed Episodes 2 and 3.^[12]
- Bill Carraro will also executive produce.^[11]
Lovecraft Country is produced by Bad Robot Productions and Monkeypaw Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.^[14]
Lovecraft Country is filmed in Georgia.^[16]
- The series will be based in Atlanta but that it will shoot throughout the Peach State.^[16]
- Abbey Lee replaced Elizabeth Debicki, who was originally cast in the role.^[9]
Per HBO, the “Lovecraft Country” debut tallied 1.4 million total viewers across all platforms including HBO Max.^[17]
- “Lovecraft Country” premiered to 760,000 total viewers in its 9 p.m. linear slot on the premium cabler.^[17]
- On HBO Max it was the number 1 most watched show on Sunday night.^[17]
- Looking at digital only, the “Lovecraft” debut delivered the second largest total for an HBO premiere since “Watchmen” and the “Chernobyl” premiere back in spring 2019.^[17]
Misha Green had a specific vision in mind for the creatues/beasts and turned to Oscar-award winning creative studio Framestore as a creative partner in reimagining these monsters.^[18]
On November 19, 2020 it was announced that Lovecraft Country was leader on the series side at Critics Choice Super Awards. The series chalked up six nominations including best horror series, best actor in a horror series for Jonathan Majors, best actor in a horror series for Michael K. Williams, best actress in a horror series for Wunmi Mosaku, best actress in a horror series for Jurnee Smollett, and best villain in a series for Abbey Lee.^[19]
- On January 10, 2021 the series won Critics Choice Super Awards for best horror series.^[20]
- Jurnee Smollett-Bell won the Critics Choice Super Awards for best actress in a horror series.^[20]
On January 18, 2021, Lovecraft Country earned five nominations for the 26th Annual Critics' Choice Awards.^[21]
- Lovecraft Country for Best Drama Series.^[21]
- Jonathan Majors for Best Actor in a Drama Series.^[21]
- Jurnee Smollett-Bell for Best Actress in a Drama Series.^[21]
- Michael Kenneth Williams for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.^[21]
- Wunmi Mosaku for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.^[21]
On February 2, 2021, Lovecraft Country earned eight nominations for the 52nd NAACP Image Awards.^[22]
- Lovecraft Country for Outstanding Drama Series.^[22]
- Jonathan Majors for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.^[22]
- Jurnee Smollett-Bell for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.^[22]
- Michael Kenneth Williams for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.^[22]
- Aunjanue Ellis for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.^[22]
- Courtney B. Vance for Outstanding Guest Performance – Comedy or Drama Series.^[22]
- Cheryl Dunye – “Strange Case” for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.^[22]
- Misha Green - “Jig-A-Bobo” for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.^[22]
Matt Ruff, author of the Lovecraft Country novel, initially conceived the story to be a potential TV series in 2007, pitching it as "The X-Files, if Mulder and Scully were black travel writers living in the Jim Crow era." When the idea wasn't fully realized, Ruff decided to rework the concept as a novel. He came up with the idea of structuring it as an episodic novel, which he described as "basically a TV season in literary form, that you would binge-read instead of binge-watching, and whose individual episodes would gradually be revealed to all be pieces of the same arc story." In doing so, Ruff hoped that the novel would also serve as a proof of concept for a possible TV series.^[23]

Development[]

On May 16, 2017, it was announced that HBO had given a series order to Lovecraft Country. Executive producers include Misha Green, Jordan Peele, J. J. Abrams, and Ben Stephenson. Additionally, Green will be the series' showrunner and write the pilot episode. Production companies involved in the series include Monkeypaw Productions, Bad Robot Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. It was reported that Peele originally brought the project to Bad Robot Productions and enlisted Green to develop the show.

On March 5, 2018, it was announced that Yann Demange will direct and executive produce the pilot episode.^[15]