From starring in independent films from up and coming first-time directors like Rian Johnson (Brick) and Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer), to making his directorial debut with the 2013 rom-com sleeper Don Jon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a history of involvement with high quality passion projects. With his next potential directing gig, Joseph Gordon-Levitt doesn’t show any signs of stopping. Today on Twitter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt confirmed a rumor that has been going around this past week, that he and David S. Goyer were going to be the team to finally adapt a property that Warner Bros has been trying to get off the ground for almost a decade – Neil Gaiman’s hit graphic-novel series The Sandman.
The Sandman is a comic book series penned by Neil Gaiman under the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. It has won 26 Eisner Awards and is one of the few graphic novels ever to be on the New York Times Best Seller list. The series follows the adventures of Dream, a character that also goes by many other names, who is an inconceivably powerful being that is older and greater than the gods. Dream has been described as the personification of dreams who escapes into the modern day after being held prisoner for 70 years. The series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996 and ended when Gaiman left Vertigo.
While a few of Neil Gaiman’s works have been successfully adapted into full-length feature films (2007’s Stardust, 2009’s Coraline) his much deeper, more extensive library of popular books and graphic-novels have been gestating in the Hollywood studio system for years. Only recently have producers and executives finally been finding some success in getting Gaiman’s words onto the screen. His latest book The Ocean at the End of the Lane has been picked up by Focus Features and HBO is developing one of his most famous works, American Gods, for it’s next big Game of Thrones-eque fantasy series. Many studios have tried, and subsequently failed, to adapt The Sandman, and at one point it seemed like the series would never realized on the big-screen. Now, it seems that’s all about to change.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m incredibly honored to be working with David Goyer, Warner Bros, and @neilhimself on SANDMAN. #Prelude
— Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitRECordJoe) December 17, 2013
If the Tweet wasn’t enough of a confirmation for fans, Deadline also confirmed the news. Goyer will be co-producing the project with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but is apparently too busy working on Batman Vs. Superman and bringing Constantine to NBC to write the script for The Sandman.
So far, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is merely officially attached as a producer, but he’s also eyeing The Sandman his sophomore directorial effort, and it’s possible he’ll be taking on the lead role as well.
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