Neil Gaiman Is Developing a SANDMAN Series for Netflix with David Goyer
After years of trying to get a film adaptation of Sandman made, creator Neil Gaiman is set to produce a series adaptation of his classic comic for Netflix! David Goyer (Man of Steel, Dark Knight Trilogy) is also set to produce the series alongside Gaiman, and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, The Catch, Grey's Anatomy) is set to write the show and serve as showrunner.
This series comes three years after New Line Cinema failed to bring the graphic novel to the big screen with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. While I would have loved to see that get made, Sandman will work great as a series! According to THR, “Netflix has signed what sources describe as a massive financial deal with Warner Bros. Television to adapt the best-seller into a live-action TV series.”
It also explained that the deal is “the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has ever done.” Eric Heisserer, the last screenwriter who worked on New Line's adaptation, said a few years ago in an interview with io9 that as he was working on the project, he felt the best way to handle the adaptation would be in the form of a series.
"I … 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."
And now that’s exactly what’s happening, and they found a home a Netflix, which is perfect for the property. They did make a pitch to HBO, but they passed on it due to the big budget that the series needed.
The Sandman comic series was originally created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. But it wasn't until Gaiman came along and gave us his version of the comic that it really exploded. The 75+ issue comic arc ran from January of 1989 to March of 1996.
The story focuses on Morpheus, the Lord of the Dreaming, a deity who personifies dreams. Gaiman also introduced the Endless, a group of powerful brothers and sisters named Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium (as well as Dream).
What do you think about Sandman landing at Netflix as a series?