The Sandman, the comic series created by Neil Gaiman, is at the centre of another attempt to translate the story to another medium, in this case TV. Warner Bros.’ telly arm has the rights and is now looking for the right person to tackle the job, with Supernatural creator/show-runner Eric Kripke at the head of the wish list.
For those who have never so much as glanced through one of the books (and if you haven’t, you *really *need to remedy that as soon as possible), the central character was Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming, a powerful deity who personifies the dreams humans see when they sleep. He’s part of the Endless, a family of mythological siblings that include Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium (formerly Delight), Destruction and the breakout star of the bunch, Goth chick icon Death.
Gaiman’s series is one of those white whales that Hollywood has just never been able to harpoon successfully, largely because A) it's a sprawling epic with multi-layered plots, a huge cast of characters and seriously complex themes that touch on the legends and literature of a fair percentage of the world's cultures, and B) it boasts a devoted following that could provide both a solid audience and yet revolt if the final product doesn’t live up to a multitude of hopes and dreams.
But that hasn’t stopped people trying for years now, with Warners owning the rights via DC’s Vertigo imprints and developing more than one cinematic take on the books. Roger Avary was attached at one point and plenty of writers and directors have come and gone over the years, with little forward momentum on actually getting anything to the screen. Gaiman himself has been approached from time to time, but he’s never seen a version that makes him think it would work.
The most recent attempt was by James Mangold, who pitched a version to HBO and had talked to Gaiman in general terms about the characters and possible plotlines.
Kripke has yet to actually seal a deal for the new show, and according to the Heat Vision blog, he’s nervous about the task even if he does take it on. At least with Supernatural, he has the experience of driving something with a passionate fan base. And the show itself has wrapped a fairly hefty mythology around its basic premise of the monster/demon-hunting Winchester brothers.
While we’re not sure the Sandman stories are really suited to network TV, we’ll wait and see if this one makes it past the development phase.