This weekend Neil Gaiman confirmed that not only have the movie rights to American Gods finally been sold “after talking to people for years,” there is already a director attached to the project.
Says Gaiman: “There is one cinematographer and director on board who has many, many Oscars and is I think is a genius, and I love the fact that he fell in love with this about six or seven years ago and has not given up and just kept coming back and kept coming back.”
The author also said that he would be meeting with those involved with the film soon, to find out “where they’re going and if there’s any way I can help. And I don’t know what’s been announced and I don’t want to announce anything before they do, because I would hate to steal any of their fire.”
American Gods follows the human Shadow (it’s a nickname) through a journey into the seedy, decaying underbelly of American spiritualism, where every god whose worshipers has ever reached the continent’s shores still lives, weakened but not gone; immortal, but under threat of extinction from the new gods of Media, Technology, and Television. Characters include a Mr. Wednesday, a Mr. Nancy, and even a cameo from Delirium and Barnabas of Gaiman’s Sandman series.
A movie adaptation would have to cut significant parts of the heavy-on-the-plot-detour novel, but could still be a great vehicle for anyone who wanted to take advantage of its unique tone and possibilities for an ensemble cast.
Morgan Freeman as Mr. Nancy, anyone?
(via Bleeding Cool.)
