Just last month I nearly pooped myself with excitement over Neil Gaiman's statement that he'd sold the film rights to his amazing fantasy novel, American Gods. The writer of pretty much every book I care to read repeatedly also revealed that he had a director and cinematographer already in place, ones with multiple Oscars to their credit. Well it turns out both points were true, but only after a fashion.
Deadline is reporting that HBO is in talks to adapt the book, but instead of it being a film as assumed, it'll be as a television series. The project was brought to them by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman of Playtone who in turn received it from Robert Richardson. Name sound familiar? He's the masterful cinematographer just recently attached to the long gestating World War Z film. He's also a guy with multiple Oscar wins to his name, as in two. He won once in 1991 for Oliver Stone's JFK
, and the other in 2004 for The Aviator
.The plan is for Gaiman and Richardson to share writing duties on the pilot. American Gods was released in 2002, and presents a world where gods and other mythological beings walk the earth. Basically they exist because people believe in them, and their powers and relevance grow depending on their following. An ex-convict turned bodyguard named Shadow, takes a job protecting the mysterious Mr. Wednesday(Odin), and finds himself in the middle of a war between the old gods and the new, modern gods.
This is a much better deal than a feature film would've been. The serialized format should give Gaiman the ability to utilize every character to the fullest and explore the rich histories of these long-lived mythological figures. I can't wait!
