Neil Gaiman: Sandman Movie a "Vertigo Film" Not a DC Film

[StewShearerOld]

Neil Gaiman: Sandman Movie a "Vertigo Film" Not a DC Film

Neil Gaiman has said that a planned film adaptation of his Sandman comic will be "a Vertigo film" and "not a DC Comics film."

Last December <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130594-Sandman-Movie-Is-A-Go-Joseph-Gordon-Levitt-Is-Producer>it was revealed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and screenplay writer David Goyer were working with Neil Gaiman to bring an adaptation of his famous Sandman comic series to the silver screen. You can perhaps imagine, in turn, why some were a bit perturbed when <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138059-DC-Announces-Wonder-Woman-Green-Lantern-6-Other-Films-Through-2020>DC and Warner Brothers announced a slew of new comic based movies last week but failed to deliver any news about Sandman. According to Gaiman however, fans looking forward to a Sandman flick have no reason to worry just yet.

That, at least, is what we're taking from the writer's response to a reader question posted <a href=http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/100211415516/despite-talk-last-month-about-the-script-being-worked>on his Tumblr last week. Said reader asked about the DC films announcement, inquiring as to why Sandman wasn't included and if it would "be marketed differently." Gaiman's response was equal parts short and interesting. "It's not a DC Comics film," he said. "It's a Vertigo film. That's a different slate of films, and a different announcement."

While, of course, this is no way a confirmation of anything, Gaiman's reply would seem to indicate that if Sandman does wind up making it to theaters that it will be doing so under the label of the Vertigo label. Vertigo, of course, is a separate comic line owned by DC but not generally connected to the primary DC Universe. If Sandman were to launch under a Vertigo Films branding, it could easily serve as the launching point for a third player to enter the business of comic book movies. The big question that emerges from this though, is why DC and Warner Brothers would hesitate to reveal this if it's real. We've reached out to the two to see if we can find out anything more.

Source: <a href=http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/100211415516/despite-talk-last-month-about-the-script-being-worked>Neil Gaiman


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[Realitycrash]

I still hold that it will be next to impossible to make Sandman into a decent movie-adaptation. There's just TOO MUCH STUFF to cover, and all of this stuff, all of the minor characters, all of the innocent foreshadowing, is what MAKES Sandman into what it is. What we need is a TV-series, or maybe a mini-series. Ugh, I just dread this. Sure, it could turn out decent (even if I doubt it), but it could also turn into super-hero schlock. Sandman is not an action-franchise, it's not about heroes and villains fighting each-other..Yet I fear this is what it will be turned into.
And, of course, let us not forget about the fact that Sandman includes some rather adult material, and are the film-makers going to risk the dreaded "R" rating? I doubt it.
Sorry if I sound pessimistic, but but Sandman and the spin-off Lucifer is very dear to me, and even though I won't throw a fan-boy rage if it happens to suck (It's non-canon to me anyway, it's just a different universe, no biggie), I won't hold my hopes.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

I still hold that it will be next to impossible to make Sandman into a decent movie-adaptation. There's just TOO MUCH STUFF to cover, and all of this stuff, all of the minor characters, all of the innocent foreshadowing, is what MAKES Sandman into what it is. What we need is a TV-series, or maybe a mini-series. Ugh, I just dread this. Sure, it could turn out decent (even if I doubt it), but it could also turn into super-hero schlock. Sandman is not an action-franchise, it's not about heroes and villains fighting each-other..Yet I fear this is what it will be turned into.
And, of course, let us not forget about the fact that Sandman includes some rather adult material, and are the film-makers going to risk the dreaded "R" rating? I doubt it.
Sorry if I sound pessimistic, but but Sandman and the spin-off Lucifer is very dear to me, and even though I won't throw a fan-boy rage if it happens to suck (It's non-canon to me anyway, it's just a different universe, no biggie), I won't hold my hopes.

I fully agree with you. The Sandman is easily my favorite graphic novel series, and this is coming from a massive manga fan who never really reads western comics. I have zero hope for this. The best thing would be for Gaiman to look at the screenplay, scream with horror, and run away as fast as he can. I mean, Hollywood couldn't even figure out how to make a proper Resident Evil movie (another thing very dear to me), and those games are perfect for adaptation. So yeah, no chance in hell this will turn out good.

 

[The Madman]

Yeah I've got to jump on the 'this movie is a terrible idea' wagon. I just can't see how Sandman as portrayed in the comics could work as a movie. Hell, even just the character of 'the sandman' himself changes physical appearance nearly from panel to panel, it's his nature as king of dreams to be as fluid and malleable as a dream himself after all. How the hell you would interpret something like that into a movie I've no idea, nevermind the other dozens of little details which make Sandman as memorable of a series as it is.

 

[Devin Barker]

And here I was hoping they weren't going to make it at all.

 

[Elijah Newton]

It's in my nature to be a contrarian, so while acknowledging the above points are all good, three years ago I couldn't imagine anyone going for Captain America or Thor, the first because something so impossibly jingoistic seemed unlikely to appeal to anyone outside of the United States (and not to many within), and the second was just? weird. What, Thor, the guy with the big boots and hammer and flow-y cape and long hair who spoke with thees and thous? And in a setting that used Kirby's art?

?and yet. *shrug* And then this summer? Guardians of the Galaxy?

Jeeze. I mean, I'm a crazy huge fan of Sandman from back in the 90s. I don't think it could've been done before, but now? god, now it might be _incredible_.



Or it could Green Lantern. Still, I'm starting to feel like it ought to happen one way or another just to see what happens.

 

[Falterfire]

Although I think directly translating the Sandman graphic novels to a movie is a bad idea, as long as Gaiman was heavily involved I would be fully supportive of a movie featuring Sandman (Either one) doing new Sandman-related things. There are certainly plenty of cool stories that could be told on the big screen, and avoiding the already written stories would probably be nothing but good for the movie.

 

[Stupidity]

I'm sure you could make a good Sandman movie, especially if distanced from the terrible DC movies. A miniseries would be ideal though.

Not really a comic movie, its more modern reimagining of faiytales than comic books.

 

[Rag Doll]

I see this as a cautios step in the right direction.
If the film is marketed differently from other DC movies, it may also be made differently from other DC movies, which would indicate that the filmmakers have some idea of what the hell they are doing with the franchise.

 

[Armadox]

The trick to a Sandman movie is the same problem they had with the Constantine movie. There's no way to properly script, pace, or spectacle that concept to properly acknowledge the balance of story and mythos. Sure, ABSOLUTELY get Gaiman on this, and Del Toro and toss as much money as you bloody well can into it if you want it to break free into it's own universe.

Because, and this my friends is the universe I want to be in...

Sandman.
Robotman (and the Doom Patrol)
Constantine.
Swamp Thing/Animal Man.
Shade the Changing Man.
Black Orchid.
Brother Power the Geek.
Phantom Stranger.

All coming together in a "Totems" like existential crossover movie that would be as if someone blended Hellboy, Brazil, and Naked Lunch together..

....

Or maybe I can have a "Neverwhere" movie, maybe?

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

To me this smells like it should have been a Series that Netflix funded instead of a movie that's not going to cover the books proper.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

And fans... want this to happen? If Gaiman is involved I could hardly be put off, even if Joseph Gordon-Levitt is (I'll never understand what people see in him), but I just don't see it working out well as a movie. The stories simply aren't structured in a way that could be adapted to film. A big-budget TV mini-series would be the best you could hope for.

I don't really think that, if this were to happen at all, it would be a direct translation of the books anyway. I could see Gaiman taking it back to square-one, or just giving us a story that exists within that world, where Dream, Death, and the other Endless are simply supporting characters in something that is happening to a random human protagonist who gets caught up in some fairy-tale-esque adventure. Some of the favorite stories in the series were written like this anyway.

 

[FalloutJack]

I feel as though if Neil were in charge of the whole thing from start to finish, he could make the first book into a movie. Since Dream spends a fair bit of it incarcerated, say, there would be places in which you don't have to dwell too long.

 

[Flatfrog]

I feel as though if Neil were in charge of the whole thing from start to finish, he could make the first book into a movie. Since Dream spends a fair bit of it incarcerated, say, there would be places in which you don't have to dwell too long.

I was just thinking this. I would literally film the first *issue* of Sandman, from Dream's incarceration to his escape and revenge, with a very short coda drawing on Sound of her Wings. The rest of Preludes could then make a decent second movie. The Dolls House and A Game Of You would both also make pretty good standalone movies.

I agree that the long story probably wouldn't suit the movie format, but there's plenty of scope for several excellent individual movies, quite aside from the possibility of new stories set in the same universe.

I'd also love to see Death: The High Cost of Living made into a movie - wasn't there talk of that at some stage?

 

[K12]

To me this smells like it should have been a Series that Netflix funded instead of a movie that's not going to cover the books proper.

Totally agree on that point. I mean are they just going to do one of the main story arcs of the comics or what? You could fit it all into a 13 episode TV season (just about) but a 2 hour movie or even a trilogy of films, no way!

 

[FalloutJack]

Guys, David Goyer is involved. It's going to be shit. We can stop discussing it now.

Neil Gaiman movies are creatively controlled by Neil Gaiman, period. He pretty much won't get involved in a project without that. Calm yourself.