I know, I know: put the information in the title. But wow. This is too big a deal to follow all the petty little rules.
Neil Gaiman’s beloved Vertigo comic Sandman is finally coming to the screen.
More than three years after New Line’s failed attempt to turn the graphic novel into a feature film, Netflix has signed what sources describe as a massive financial deal with Warner Bros. Television to adapt the best-seller into a live-action TV series. Sources familiar with the pact note it is the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has ever done.
(H/T: Coming Soon) Yeah, sure, expensive, that’s very interesting, now shaddup and produce it.
You’ll notice that I’m not worried, and that’s because DC’s TV section has its head a lot more on a swivel than its movie section does. More to the point, Sandman will simply work better as a TV show than as a movie. Compressing the whole thing into a two hour movie would have been practically an abomination before the Lord; doing it this way will let them tell the stories. Hell, all of the stories — including the digressions.
…Dear God, I this means that maybe they’ll do the Emperor Norton tale. That would be very nice. I hope that they do that.
Moe Lane
Netflix saw the piles of cash where both Starz’s and Amazon’s HQs used to be. After American Gods and Good Omens, the studios finally see that Neil Gaiman has proven he can manage a proper TV series. Fortunately, he’s not sold out the basic knock-off-movie rights like most authors, and fought to keep some creative control. While those projects may walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Production Hell, the final products have so far been worth it.
The digressions were the best part. Meet Marco Polo, Emperor Norton, William Shakespeare, and take a drive with Delirium.
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Starting from graphic novels in the first place, the adaptation to another visual medium should be pretty straightforward.
In any case, it’s not likely to infuriate me. (Like the graphic novel of Neverwhere turning Door into a Lolita. Cue the brain bleach.)
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The Arthur storyline is going to be especially controversial in the current climate. The SJWs are going to pitch an absolute fit about the lesbian witch being a TERF.
(Yes, that particular storyline makes me uncomfortable, but that’s more or less the point. My protesting it would only grant legitimacy.)
I hope Gaiman protects Sandman as it is his best work in my opinion. I would be more excited if it were an animated series as DC’s animated lineup is vastly superior to it’s live action. I have absolutely no trust that it will be done well, although hopefully they will have more money than BBC spent on Good Omens.