Fans of Neil Gaiman were ecstatic to hear that Fremantle Media would be producing an adaptation of his acclaimed novel ‘American Gods’ for Starz. And now that the recently revealed premiere date is rapidly approaching, the excitement can barely be contained. But as awesome as the show created by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green sounds (especially since it features an all-star cast including Ian McShane, Emily Browning, Crispin Glover, Cloris Leachman, Gillian Anderson, and more), it looks like it won’t be the only piece of the prolific writer’s work making it’s way to the small screen.
According to Newsarama, Fremantle Media North America has signed Gaiman to an exclusive, multi-year first look agreement that will provide new and exciting opportunities to adapt his award-winning novels, short stories, and whatever else he can come up with for television. This deal also encompasses new original content from the author and opportunities to bring in other creators and their work to develop through Gaiman’s The Blank Corporation and their Director of Development Cat Mihos. On this exciting venture, Gaiman praised FMNA for embracing his vast and strange body of work:
“Working with my friends at Fremantle Media on shepherding ‘American Gods’ to the screen has been exciting and delightful way to spend the last three years. I’ve learned to trust them, and to harness their talents and enthusiasm, as they’ve learned to harness mine. They don’t mind that I love creating a ridiculously wide variety of things, and I am glad that even the strangest projects of mine will have a home with them. ‘American Gods’ is TV nobody has seen before and I can’t wait to announce the specifics behind what we have coming up next.”
Though there have been some great adaptations of Gaiman’s work like ‘Coraline’ and ‘Stardust’ with many others being picked up by various parties, there is still a plethora of work that could potentially work for TV. His popular Vertigo comic series ‘The Sandman’ comes to mind immediately since there have been many unsuccessful attempts at film and television in the past, but things like ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ or ‘M is for Magic’ are ripe for the picking. With such a wide range of work to choose from, there’s really no telling what Gaiman and Fremantle could choose to work on next.
What do you think about Neil Gaiman teaming with Fremantle Media to develop more television projects? Which of the writer’s works would you like to see developed next? And who are some other creators that you’d like to see collaborate with Gaiman to bring their work to the small screen? Let us know in the comments below.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
