A series like Game Of Thrones doesn't come along every day, even if you are HBO, but if there's any justice in the world American Gods will be the channel's next mega-hit, and word has now emerged that HBO is currently planning a six-season arc for the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel.
The book's focus is a man called Shadow, who's about to be released from prison when word reaches him that his much-loved wife has been killed in a car crash. It's just the first in a series of blows for the strong but silent type, who soon finds himself reluctantly working for a charismatic salesman called Mr Wednesday and drawn into a conflict between America's gods, old and new.
Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions are going to be pulling it all together, with a $40m budget for each series of 10-12 episodes - not a vast amount for that much screen time. While the novel has a sprawling cast of characters and a fantasy-heavy story that will demand a large amount of CG and stretch that budget, there are also lots of human-focused scenes that should only require a decent cast.
For more on American Gods and the rest of Neil Gaiman's work, check out our podcast special with him below. Look out for American Gods on TV either late this year or (more likely, we suspect) sometime in 2014.
P.S. Don't forget to check out our podcast photo gallery here and subscribe to the **Empire Podcast **via our iTunes page or this handy RSS feed.