The cinematic adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman‘ just can’t get a break as the film has just lost another screenwriter. Eric Heisserer (‘Light’s Out’,’The Thing’) is the latest writer to leave the property though is by no means the first one who is saying that this really needs to be done as a television series instead of a film. Having been working on the project since March it seem as if New Line Cinema is going to once again have to start over from scratch.
His exact words on the subject:
“I had many conversations with Neil [Gaiman] on this, and I did a lot of work on the feature and came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy. The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV. So I talked myself out of a job!”
This isn’t a case of a writer having creative differences with a studio but with the format itself as the comics and graphic novels don’t easily lend themselves to a single or 3-part shot that would be able to properly tell the story without butchering the source material. This isn’t the first of Gaiman’s work to get adapted and as ‘American Gods’ is looking great for its upcoming Starz debut it seems that more of Gaiman’s work might be better told in a longer format.
It seems Gaiman agrees with this take as he stated on Twitter:
The very smart @HIGHzurrer leaves Sandman movie, with a message: https://t.co/k6CE9lAQhN
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 3, 2016
With Jack Thorne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt having both left the project it seems like another nail in the coffin.
Are you hoping that New Line Cinema can still find a writer who can tackle ‘Sandman’ or do you think Gaiman’s masterpiece should be told on television? Share your thoughts below!
Sources: io9
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
