The attempt to bring Neil Gaiman’s classic Sandman stories to screens big or small have been met with about as much luck as… well, those who would tangle with Morpheus himself. Writers and directors have come and gone through the years without success, and everyone was starting to wonder if it should just be given up as a bad idea. Still, someone appears to believe it can be done, as Badass Digest brings word that Warners’ favourite comic book movie writer, David Goyer, is pitching a version that could potentially see Joseph Gordon-Levitt involved.
As the Badass team cautions, all this is still swirling in the mysterious realms of rumour right now. If Goyer is indeed plotting the idea, then no deals are in place and it’s early days for discussions, though he does apparently have an influential champion in DC Comics’ Geoff Johns, the guardian of DC Comics’ route to the cinema and TV. While we’d be concerned about someone trying to squeeze Gaiman’s sprawling, complex, deep mythology into a film’s running time, even the writer himself seems to be coming round to the idea that, done right, it could work.
As for Gordon-Levitt, there are no exact details as to his involvement, though it’s likely he’s considering playing Morpheus himself. He and Goyer, of course, have a pre-existing connection thanks to The Dark Knight Rises, and if **(500) Days Of Summer **taught us anything, it's that the actor/writer/director can handle romantic disaster, which is no bad thing for Morpheus.
For those unaware, Morpheus/Dream/Sandman/Oneiros (pick one. Or more) is a member of the Endless, a family of anthropomorphic personifications brought to life that includes sister Death and siblings Delirium, Desire, Destruction, Despair and Destiny. Morpheus’ existence revolves around creating dreams (hence the Sandman title) for sleepers and pining for various lost loves. That, of course, boils him down to his most base level: there are so many layers to the stories and possible plotlines that it’s not really surprising no one has managed to distil them yet. And even if Goyer is trying, nothing may come of it. As with all early stage rumours such as these, all we can do is wait and see… And of course comment below or on Twitter.