Schwentke will get HBO's 'Lobotomist'

Robert Schwentke continues to be drawn on to direct the Cinemax drama pilot "The Lobotomist," with Daniel Thomsen aboard to create the script. Schwentke, who helmed "Time Traveler's Wife," will even professional produce with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Killoran of Appian Way, Kaira Fischer and Laeta Kalogridis of Mythology Entertainment, and Mike Medavoy. Thomsen will co-professional produce and Aaron Criswell is placed like a co-producer. Inspired through the meteoric go up and down of Dr. Walter Freeman, "The Lobotomist" informs the storyline of 1 man's mission to alter the planet via a new, experimental nuclear physics. However, if this maverick physician would like to visit any measures to attain his goals, his existence careens unmanageable -- in the levels of worldwide recognition towards the tabloids, using the good reputation for mental healthcare, transformed in the wake. Pilot, which might eventually are a series, is dependant on it "The Lobotomist" by author Jack El-Hai. The project came into being when DiCaprio, "Shutter Island" professional producer and author Kalogridis, and producer Fischer were focusing on the Martin Scorsese film and gravitated toward El-Hai's book while researching a brief history of lobotomy. Mythology optioned it and, along with DiCaprio and the production shingle, Appian Way, required it to Cinemax. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com