Guillermo del Toro has a Monster on the brain.  This time around it's not a gigantic Kaiju for his upcoming Pacific Rim, but rather an adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's manga, Monster.  The vision may be big but this project is meant for the small screen as part of del Toro's TV collaboration with HBO.  The 18-volume thriller follows a doctor on his global search for a former patient of his who went on to become the most evil sociopath the world has ever seen.  Del Toro will co-write the story with Steven Thompson (Dr. Who, Sherlock), while Thompson will write the pilot that del Toro intends to direct (got that?).  Hit the jump for more.

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Deadline reports that del Toro and HBO are in the Monster business.  The project was originally set up at New Line as a feature but proved too unwieldy.  Del Toro reportedly wooed Urasawa over a lengthy period of time until he was able to get him to trust that his creation would be in good hands.  This appears to be a similar process to how Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were able to bring George R.R. Martin's creation to the masses.

As a side-note, the write-up also mentions that del Toro is once again stirring the coals with Universal in hopes of firing up his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.  This news comes on the tail of the studio's successful global launch of Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise, who was also lined up to star in the del Toro picture.  It remains to be seen whether Universal is willing to make his $150 million R-rated 3D movie, but the outcome of Pacific Rim will certainly help push that decision one way or another.

Here's the description for the first volume in Urasawa's series (via Amazon):

Brilliant doctor Kenzo Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.

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