There is no question that Damon Lindelof is a super talented guy. One of the brains behind LOST, Lindelof also conquered the big screen with movies like Cowboys and Aliens and Prometheus. A big wonderful brain like that could do just about anything with those credentials, but it seems that what he really wants to do is adapt an excellent novel into an HBO series.

The Leftovers is a novel by Tom Perrotta, who also wrote Election and Little Children (both of which were adapted into terrific movies that he also co-wrote the scripts for). Apparently, Lindelof read one or two lines of the review for The Leftovers, bought it immediately, devoured it and decided mid-book that he wanted to be a part of its adaptation. If you are a fan of any of the things Lindelof has previously done, it shouldn’t be hard to imagine how awesome this series could be with him at the helm and a plot like this:

Mapleton is your average suburb that is hit hard by a worldwide tragedy. Not a terrorist attack or an environmental disaster but The Rapture. One day, out of the clear blue sky, millions of people vanish off the face of the planet – people of all sorts: Christians, Muslims, atheists, good people, bad people, young, old. With no rhyme or reason to these people being chosen (or any idea if that is what actually happened to them), the ones left behind are left to mourn and try to carry on never knowing why they weren’t special enough (this is especially hard for the devoutly religious).

It’s a fascinating idea and I will admit that after reading a synopsis of the book, I also went out and bought it and am in the process of devouring it.  It is a really smart look at what life would be like if Harold Camping was sort of right and you weren’t lucky enough to be part of it. And I can think of no one more qualified to be part of bringing it to life than Damon Lindelof. Like chocolate and peanut butter, some things just go together perfectly.