Is this the end for 'Sandman'? Joseph Gordon-Levitt explains why he's out
It may be time to give up on any hopes for a big screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics.
After slightly more than two years of working with Gaiman and David Goyer on an adaptation, producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt is out. The reason? Creative differences.
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It's not Gaiman and Goyer that Gordon-Levitt can't work with, but rather producing studio New Line Cinema.
"[A] few months ago, I came to realize that the folks at New Line and I just don't see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special, and what a film adaptation could/should be," JGL wrote in a Saturday evening Facebook post.
"So unfortunately, I decided to remove myself from the project. I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward."
When Gordon-Levitt, Goyer and Gaiman struck their Sandman deal in 2013, it was with DC Comics owner Warner Bros., not New Line.
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Sandman was originally published under DC's adult-friendly Vertigo imprint. New Line -- a WB subsidiary -- entered the picture at some point during the last two years, after WB gave the studio ownership of the Vertigo catalog.
Gaiman, who maintains an active presence on Twitter and a regular dialogue with his fans, had nothing but kind things to say about Gordon-Levitt.
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What's not clear is where Sandman goes from here. Gaiman didn't say anything that speaks to his continued involvement (or lack thereof) in the adaptation, though he did remind his followers that DC owns The Sandman.
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This isn't the first time a Sandman adaptation has suffered a setback. The comic, which ran from 1989 to 1996, has been tagged for both television and film treatments many times over the years.
At one point back in the '90s, Pulp Fiction writer Roger Avary was to helm a movie after the success of his Quentin Tarantino collaboration. Avary was eventually fired due to creative differences, though he later worked with Gaiman on 2007's Beowulf.
Years later, in 2010, the possibility of a TV series sprung up with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke to potentially be tapped. That, too, fell apart.
If Deadpool's success in theaters has proved anything (not to mention Marvel's highly regarded Netflix programming), it's that there's an appetite out there for more adult-friendly comic book adaptations.
AMC has already seen huge success with its TV version of The Walking Dead, and the network will be doubling down on comics later this year when Preacher arrives.
While it's premature at this point to give up on hopes for The Sandman, there's no question that the departure of one of the latest adaptation's key creatives is a big blow.
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Topics Film
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
