HBO Plans 6 Seasons for Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS!
HBO and Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions are teaming up with Neil Gaiman to adapt his fantasy-heavy novel American Gods for the small screen. The plan is to give it a six season arc with 10 to 12 episodes per season! How cool is that! One book getting turned into six seasons--I guess it's going to go above and beyond a faithful adaptation of the book.
The story focuses on a man called Shadow, "who's about to be released from prison when word reaches him that his much-loved wife has been killed in a car crash. It's just the first in a series of blows for the strong but silent type, who soon finds himself reluctantly working for a charismatic salesman called Mr Wednesday and drawn into a conflict between America's gods, old and new."
This is sure to make a great series. Empire also reports that each season will get a $40 million budget, which doesn't seem too bad. There's no word on when it will premiere, but I imagine it will be sometime next year.
Here's the book description:
Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But, just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home – an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself. Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined. It is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters, whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way, Shadow will learn that the past never dies’ that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, Shadow will discover that, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing that is an epic war for the very soul of America, and he is standing squarely in its path.
Listen to Empire's Neil Gaiman podcast below: