Joseph Gordon-Levitt has just opened up on why his ‘Sandman‘ adaptation should be on the big screen and not television. With ‘Sandman’ in the works, this is a good time to be a Neil Gaiman fan. Not only is Fox set to release the series ‘Lucifer,’ but Bryan Fuller is bringing ‘American Gods‘ to Starz. Both of these series are set to be released in 2016 with no word yet on when ‘Sandman’ will even begin filming.
With Gaiman’s two adaptations getting released as a series instead of films, the question came up in a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything with Gordon-Levitt asking whether he thought ‘Sandman’ was best suited for the big screen:
“I think a big screen adaptation is a better idea and here’s why. If you did the episodic version, I think it could very well end up as a not-as-good-version of what is already brilliant in the comics. But by reworking the material into a big movie, Gaiman’s brilliant characters and ideas get to take shape in a way they never have before. Also, I think Sandman deserves to look absolutely mind-blowingly awesome, just on a visual level, and as cinematic as some tv shows are becoming these days, they still can’t compete with big movies visually, just because they can’t afford to.”
So the primary reason is that he wants the visual experience to be there which he feels only can still be done in film. While it could be argued that the premium networks already do have that quality of visuals, in some instances those examples would still be few and far between.
He was also asked on what the film might be about as we’re still not sure which story arc he plans to cover. While he dodged that part of the question he did say this:
“There’s tons of little brilliant moments throughout the series, and we certainly can’t incorporate all of them. We are using a whole bunch of specifics straight from the comics, but of course, we’re also having to do a certain amount of invention, and in between that, there’s tons of re-appropriating, re-contextualizing, combining, consolidating, and all manner of things that literalists might not like. But what we try to be completely faithful about is the overall sentiment: that Dreams and Stories and Magic are actually all the same thing, and that they’re real, and that they’re powerful.”
This is clearly been a project that he is passionate about and from anyone who has read ‘Sandman’ you can tell he is really trying to get the tone down.
What are your thoughts on Gordon-Levitt’s latest few details on the film? Are you happy to hear why he wants a movie or think it still would have worked better as a series? Share your thoughts below!
Sources: Comic Book, Screen Rant
