Emmy Award-nominated writer, director and producer Craig Zobel, most recently responsible for the Kate Winslet-led crime drama “Mayor of Easttown,” will direct and executive produce “The Penguin” for HBO Max.
The series is a spin-off of Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” from earlier this year, with Colin Farrell once again starring as the crime boss.
Zobel has established himself as one of the most dependable and artistically aspiring filmmakers working in both film and television. An early collaborator of director David Gordon Green (he most recently worked with the filmmaker on “Prince Avalanche”), Zobel has produced a series of fascinating films (starting with “Great World of Sound” in 2007) and some all On any television show he’s working on (“The Leftovers,” “Westworld”) before directing CBS All Access’s “One Dollar” and of course HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” Most memorable episode.
His most recent film, 2020’s “The Hunt”, was highly controversial and very funny (it was co-written and produced by his “Leftovers” collaborator Damon Lindelof).
Fortunately for Zobel, “The Penguin” didn’t meet the same fate as another spin-off of “The Batman” based around Gotham PD and executive produced by Terence Winter, which was quietly shelved. And an animated series, tangibly linked and produced by Reeves and his longtime friend and collaborator JJ Abrams, is being shopped for other streamers after HBO Max left.
“The Penguin” is executive produced by Reeves, Dylan Clarke and Pharrell. Lauren LeFrank writes for the show and serves as a showrunner. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, the new series is produced by Reeves’ VI and Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Daniel Pipsky of Sixth & Idaho will serve as executive producer, and Rafi Krohn is co-executive producer.
