Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is often held as one of of the best comic/graphic novel series ever. Considering it’s one of only three graphic novels (with The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen) to ever make it on the New York Times Best Sellers List, it’s a no-brainer that Sandman set the standard for high quality in the graphic novel medium. The series itself helped launch Gaiman’s career, which has included multiple literary awards for his bibliography (American Gods and The Graveyard Book being my two personal favorites of his), as well as numerous film and TV adaptations, including Coraline and Stardust.
Unfortunately, given the depth and intricacies Gaiman and the plethora of artists that worked on Sandman put into the series, it’s been hard to adapt for the screen, both big and small. Numerous attempts have been made, but it’s difficult to adapt 75 issues into a cohesive project that not only matches the depth of the writing, but also the visual style that helped make Sandman so popular. For those unfamiliar with the series, Sandman follows the anthropomorphic personification of Dream (alongside his brothers and sisters Death, Delirium, Destiny, Destruction, Despair, and Desire) and his quest to reclaim his powers and reign over the Dream World following an unspecified event that weakened him.
Warner Bros. favorite David S. Goyer, writer of Man of Steel and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, has reportedly pitched a Sandman film to WB with Joseph Gordon-Levitt attached. In what manner JGL is involved is unclear, but it’s safe to assume that Goyer would want him to portray Morpheus (Dream). However, considering how much stock WB is putting into the next line of DC films (Batman vs. Superman and the planned Justice League adaptation), any movement on a Sandman adaptation would be years away.
Personally, I’m against the idea, but my reasons why may be best left for another time…
[via The Playlist]