Joseph Gordon-Levitt keeps heart in developing Neil Gaiman's Sandman into a feature film. Gordon-Levitt has kept quiet on film developments but admits the process is proving to be complicated. The Sandman is one among a few titles from Vertigo to be picked up by New Line Cinema.
It is a well-known fact that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is producing Neil Gaiman's best-selling graphic novel about Dream of the Endless. The novel is a complicated web of fantasy, world literature, and reality, and no doubt Gordon-Levitt has his work cut out for him. Gordon-Levitt's AMA Reddit last month admits that literalists and hard core fans may be upset with his interpretation, but with Gaiman's blessing, the writing will keep Dream's essence intact. This bit of news is a good sign that Gordon-Levitt's Morpheus is up to par with Gaiman's Dream King since previous adaptations of the graphic novel have been scrapped by the author.
In a recent interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz, Gordon-Levitt admits that the process to develop The Sandman is "slow but steady" because it is a "really complicated adaptation". The graphic novel was developed over the course of less than a decade in tiny, 24-page issue increments and is in itself a complication considering that the feature film must have a beginning, middle and end, "that's why it's taking a long time to write". According to Gordon-Levitt, Gaiman does stress that Morpheus must not "punch anybody", which both stays true to the character and breaks away from the ordinary cliches associated with today's spectacular crime-fighting action movies.
Deadline reports that The Sandman is only one of the titles from Vertigo in the works for the big screen. Warner Bros is currently busy with titles from the DC Universe. Batman, Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are expected to make their way to cinemas very soon. Alongside Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, Vertigo-published graphic novels such as Constantine, Preacher, and Lucifer have also been picked up for development by New Line Cinema.
The Sandman is a graphic novel that chronicles Dream of the Endless, as written by Neil Gaiman and published by Vertigo. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the frontlines to develop the graphic novel into a feature film alongside Gaiman, and scriptwriter Jack Thorne.
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