With 'Skyfall' now the highest grossing Bond film in the history of the fifty year franchise, director Sam Mendes and screenwriter John Logan are on top of the world. But how do you follow up a critically acclaimed action film that managed to gross more than $1 billion at the international box office? How about a TV series inspired Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein.'

Well, it may be a TV series based on 'Frankenstein.' The details of the project are almost entirely unknown, but here's what we do know, courtesy of Deadline:

"The untitled drama, which has undergone some tweaking from the original spec to tailor it to the Showtime audiences, is described as a psychological horror drama series with literary underpinnings, including Dr. Frankenstein and his creature, set in the 1800s."

You could read that in two ways. This could be a project that features Dr. Frankenstein and his creature as part of a larger universe or it could be a straightforward Frankenstein adaptation. We're going to run with the latter for the time being.

Although there are tons of 'Frankenstein' projects already in the works (including a series over at Fox), the pedigree here immediately makes this currently untitled production the best of the lot. Since they're developing the series for Showtime, they can also get away with any and all kinds of nastiness that competition couldn't touch...and what's the point of making a show about mad science gone awry if you can't get a little gross?

With 'Dexter' getting a little creaky and long-in-the-tooth, it's wise of Showtime to be on the hunt for a horror-tinged drama to replace their flagship series. It's unclear whether or not Logan and Mendes will go to the original novel or any of the countless faithful and unfaithful film adaptations for inspiration, but the world of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is so rich and deep that a series, if done properly, could be a definitive take on the characters...if it's an actual 'Frankenstein' story, of course.

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