Few genre projects are as anticipated at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con than Netflix’s series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Sandman’.
Sure, there are the gigantic likes of Marvel and DC bringing their own latest comic book-based treats to con audiences, but Gaiman’s sprawling, mystical and magical tale of the Lord of Dreams (and the various people, creatures and realms he encounters) is a truly special one to its fans.
And it’s a story that has long defied attempts at adaptation, especially on the movie front (and partly because Gaiman himself has tried to make sure that if it happened at all, it happens right).
The longer format of serialized television and the budgets/technology afforded by today’s streaming services finally appears to have cracked it, and the show is less than a month away. So Netflix naturally went all out with a Hall H panel featuring cast and creators.
The cast of Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
For those who might be unaware of the comic book (which debuted back in the 1980s), this is the story of another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies.
But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way.
That feels like a very CliffsNotes summation for something that is gigantic and filled with myths and monsters. Oh, and a talking Raven called Matthew (voiced in the series by Oswalt, a confirmed fan of the comics who read from issue one).
Comic book creator Neil Gaiman from Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
Gaiman talked about how happy he was that the story was finally coming to the screen in the right way, while the cast enthused about getting to play their various characters. There were the usual anecdotes – Tom Sturridge, who plays Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, was cast after hundreds of other actors were auditioned, while Gwendoline Christie plays Lucifer as a “junkie angel”.
Perhaps the biggest news to emerge was that artist Dave McKean – who created so many of the beautiful covers for the comics, but who had effectively retired from work on it – was back for the show. “Every episode has end-title credits, and it’s a different sequence for each episode,” said Gaiman, “this amazing, flowing film that Dave McKean made.”
Clips from a couple of episodes were screened, though as usual those were only for attendees. Netflix was gracious enough to put a new trailer online for everyone to see.
Tom Sturridge from Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
‘The Sandman’ will premiere on Netflix for its first season on August 5th.
Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’(L to R) Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’(L to R) Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death and Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’David Thewlis as Dr. John Dee in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’(L to R) Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream and Stephen Fry as Fiddler’s Green / Gilbert in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’Joely Richardson as Ethel Cripps in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’
Netflix is running its annual “Geeked Week” this week, making announcements, and releasing trailers for a host of shows and movies all themed around genre.
One of the most exciting pieces of news is word that the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s classic comic series ‘The Sandman’ will launch its first season on the streaming service this coming August.
To boil it down to the basics, the story is this: “When the Sandman, aka Dream (Tom Sturridge) — the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams — is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.”
Of course, this being Neil Gaiman, there is a lot more to it than that. A lot more.
‘Sandman’, for those who might be unfamiliar, was a 75-issue DC/Vertigo comics series published in the 1990s. Gaiman’s own one-line synopsis was: “The lord of dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision,” yet the sprawling series takes in pantheons and mythologies from across the globe, via threads about fantastical quests, serial killers, road trips, and short stories only tangentially connected to the core narrative. Many tales featured Dream’s siblings, the Endless: Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium. There are some characters – such as members of his own family – who are happy to see Dream return, while others are not so sure this is a good thing.
fGhq3jt1
Gaiman himself has noted that the first, 10-episode season of the Netflix show only covers to the end of ‘The Doll’s House’, the second collected trade paperback of the comics. There are 10 in all, and that doesn’t even include the many spin-off stories.
Attempts have been made in the past to turn this one into a movie, though the streaming series format (not to mention the budget and scope afforded by the likes of Netflix) most certainly feels the natural home for something so sprawling. It’s hard to imagine a film franchise even the size of, say, ‘Harry Potter’ doing justice to what Gaiman and his various collaborators brought to the page.
Though the writer has directly overseen adaptations of his work before (‘Good Omens’ particularly), here he was more of a consultant, with Allan Heinberg and David S. Goyer developing the series with Gaiman and then running the show.
The “Game of Thrones” star is a new addition to the cast of the upcoming drama, which is currently shooting in Fairway Alabama. She’ll star alongside Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck, and Jason Segel, Deadline reports. Other cast members include Cherry Jones, Denee Benton, Marielle Scott, Ahna O’Reilly, Isabella Kai Rice, Violet McGraw, and country singer Jake Owen.
Christie’s character details haven’t been revealed, but the film is based on the true story of Nicole (Johnson) and Matthew Teague (Affleck) and their friend Dane Faucheux (Segel). When Nicole was dying of cancer, Dane moved in to help the couple and their children through the very difficult time. Matthew Teague wrote about the experience in a 2015 Esquire article that served as the basis for screenwriter Brad Inglesby’s adaptation.
The project marks another film for Christie, whose big-screen credits already include “Welcome to Marwen,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” and the upcoming film “The Personal History of David Copperfield.” Her work in TV includes roles in the series “Wizards vs Aliens” and “Top of the Lake: China Girl.” She has also appeared on the London stage.
“The Friend”is being produced by Scott Free and Black Bear Pictures, with Black Bear financing. Scott Free’s Kevin Walsh, Michael Pruss, and Ryan Stowell are producing along with Teddy Schwarzman of Black Bear. Executive producers include Teague, Inglesby, Ridley Scott, Ben Stillman, Michael Heimler, and Ted Deiker.
The film’s release date has not yet been announced.
Sometimes just saying a filmmaker’s name can conjure up the mood and atmosphere of their entire oeuvre. This is the case with Robert Zemeckis, who has delighted the world with endless invention and innovation over the course of his career and whose movies feel, more often than not, exciting, scary and fun, but always deeply emotional and resonant. You care about the characters, no matter what oversized scenario Zemeckis has invented for them to tumble around in. He is a treasure and every one of his movies should be treasured; they’re as polished, beautiful and intricate as any jewel.
His latest jewel is “Welcome to Marwen,” a based-on-a-true-story fantasy adventure about a man (Steve Carell) who, after a violent beating, copes by making a tiny miniature village behind his home, populated by versions of the people in his own town. Given that this is a Zemeckis movie, and as a filmmaker who never shies away from cutting-edge technology, the dolls themselves are brought to life via motion-capture performances, done by all the same actors and actresses (Leslie Mann, Janelle Monae, Eiza Gonzalez). The entire thing conjures up a world that only Zemeckis could create, both earthbound and emotional and still fantastically out-there at the same time.
Our conversation darted around all over the pace, from the Zemeckis shout-outs included in “Ready Player One” to his failed motion-capture “Yellow Submarine” remake, and to maintain that goofy spirit, it is included below.
WB/Amblin
Wanted to ask first about “Ready Player One,” which had so many references to your films. What was your reaction?
I thought it was very nice. It was a great tribute. It was really fun.
Yeah, he told me what was going on. We chatted a little bit. But I think all of that was in the book.
This can be applied to your entire career and certainly to “Welcome to Marwen,” but when choosing projects, how much are you drawn to the story and how much are you drawn to some crazy technological hurdle that you’re looking to overcome?
Well, I think it’s usually a blend of both. But I think it’s always the human emotional story first. Because that’s the only way I know how to make the movie. And then I do honestly ask myself the question, So how can we do this in a way that has never been seen before? How can we make this a reason to go to the movies, to present a story that should be done as a work of cinema? And tell the story as cinematically as we possibly can.
You haven’t used performance-capture this extensively since you stopped making completely performance-capture movies. Was it fun to integrate the disciplines?
Yeah it was. There was a lot of performance-capture in “The Walk” but you didn’t know it.
Really?
Oh yeah. But yes … the answer to the question is yes.
Now I want to know about the performance-capture in “The Walk!”
No, it’s okay. There are always things happening all over the place these days.
It was interesting to read the press notes and learn that you were going to build the entire town.
Well, yeah, we went through every process. We did our due diligence to figure out what would be the way. The key thing that we wanted to do was that we never wanted to lose the power of the human performance, translating it to the doll. So we tested everything and ran through every conceivable idea. Then we landed on what we’ll call “enhanced performance-capture,” and we tested it a lot to make sure it could deliver, before we ever stepped on the set.
Your last few movies have either been based on real events or been set in a historical framework. Is that a response to getting out of animation and dealing with actors? Or where does that inclination come from?
I don’t know. I don’t think about it consciously. I did read a quote from Francois Truffaut who said, “Every filmmaker’s decision to make a film is a reaction to the film they just made.” So whatever that means! It might be something to do with that.
Disney
This is 30 years after you made “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” but there’s still the same mixture of live-action and animated elements.
A little bit.
What has changed the most?
Oh god everything is easier. Every frame of “Roger Rabbit” was drawn by hand. Anybody can do “Roger Rabbit” now since we have computers. But that was backbreaking work back then.
Do you ever want to return to that world?
Well, look, there’s a really good script at Disney for a sequel but I don’t think it’s on their agenda. There are no princesses in it. [laughs]
Roger Rabbit was in the parks for a long time.
Well, we still have Toon Town.
That’s true. Do you ever go on the ride?
The Roger Rabbit ride? The Car Toon Spin? Oh yeah of course. I like it. I think Toon Town is kind of cool. You know what I like about Toon Town?
What?
It makes you nervous. When you’re in Toon Town, I get anxious, because it’s kind of nuts. I think they really captured the thing that was the essence of Toon Town from the movie. It’s almost like, at certain points, you say, “I’ve got to get out of here.”
Speaking of Disney, I’m mildly obsessed with your proposed “Yellow Submarine” motion-capture remake. Can you talk about what that was going to be?
It was going to be a dimensionalized 3D remake of the original movie, with massive improvements to the story, with a lot of effort made to bring the characters of the Beatles into the story as best we could.
Are you still looking to do more performance-capture movies?
Again, I don’t look to do movies based on a technological thing. If a story comes along that it works with, like “Marwen,” then good. But I’m not out there going, “I’ve got to get me a performance-capture movie!” No way.
One of my favorites of your performance-capture work is “Beowulf.” And I’d heard you wanted to do a PG-13 version for regular cinemas and NC-17 for IMAX. Is that true, at all?
I floated the question about … It wasn’t NC-17 but it was unrated … So I said, “Why can’t we, since we’re going to be on a limited number of screens and people have to pay a premium to play IMAX, just try that?” And I’ve asked that a couple of times. And they always say no, it gets too complicated, they can’t do that, somebody will walk into the wrong theater and write a letter to the MPAA and they didn’t want to deal with that. But now it doesn’t matter anymore because the only time the ratings of movies matter is in movie theaters. Everything that’s being streamed is unrated. Anybody can watch anything.
You’re in the unique position of having a big movie opening in a bunch of screens nationwide and having a hit show on television at the same time (“Manifest”). There’s this big debate about where people should see movies and how they should see them and wanted to see where you fell in?
I’ve kind of given up on it the debate, because everything is becoming this giant stew. I don’t think anybody knows what’s going on. It’s a free-ball. I personally love the cinema. I love the cinema experience. I love audiences collectively experiencing something. I love the idea like in the movie “Jaws,” when Roy Scheider steps into water that’s inside the boat, when the shark is attacking, that the audience screams even though there’s no possible way the shark is in that boat. Audiences who see the movie in isolation don’t get to experience that. So just the idea that the collective audience experience is something that I personally like and I make my movies like that and then if you see it on your phone, you see it on your phone.
I just have to ask this question, because it’s so weird: there’s a deleted scene/outtake on the “Back to the Future” box set where Michael J. Fox does an entire scene as a cholo. Do you remember this?
Yes I do.
Why did he do that?
He was just goofing and we rolled the camera. He just showed up one day and wanted to do that. He just walked in that day and started that, and I said, “Hey, roll.”
Robert Zemeckis is the type of filmmaker known for grafting fantastical scenarios with utterly relatable characters. Just think about “Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump,” “Contact” or “Cast Away” — these are movies in which the high concept doesn’t dilute the emotionality of the pieces, it amplifies them.
Zemeckis’ latest combination of the down-to-earth and the otherworldly is “Melcome to Marwen,” the true-life story of a man (Steve Carell) who, following a violent attack, recreates a World War II village in his backyard, populating it with dolls that look like the people in his town (Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger, Janelle Monae, and Eiza Gonzalez). It looks totally enchanting and very, very Zemeckis-y. And we are so thrilled to debut the brand new character posters, ahead of tomorrow’s brand new trailer.
The posters feature the doll versions of the aforementioned actresses (along with characters played by Gwendoline Christie, Merritt Wever and Zemeckis’ wife, Leslie Zemeckis), along with Carrell’s .
“Welcome to Marwen” opens everywhere on December 21, 2018.
Moviefone’s signature series “Unscripted” always has great moments, but sometimes we can’t fit everything into one episode. So we’re bringing you “Unscripted Overtime” to highlight the best clips that were (unfortunately) cut for time.
One of the hidden benefits of “Unscripted” is its ability to transform into free group therapy. A place where stars can vent, grow, and unite over the concept that sometimes parents just don’t understand.
John Boyega, Gwendoline Chrisite, Mark Hamill, and Kelly Marie Tran stopped by to answer your questions (and posit some of their own) about “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and it was blast right from the get-go. Topics discussed include a Captain Phasma/Brienne of Tarth team-up, J.J. Abrams‘ birth name (Jar-Jar, obviously), and one of the most famous lines in cinema history.
A favorite “Game of Thrones” ship is even more intense than it looks.
Season 7 really “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that Hivju continues using his potent stare on her even after the cameras stop rolling.
“He likes to continue being in character even off set,” Christie told Meyers of her co-star.
She described his behavior as “terrifying,” and pulled out a hilarious anecdote as proof. It seems even the simplest of activities, like eating a sandwich, can become seductive moves when Hivju does them.
“He will start, you know, chewing a sandwich wildly at me. … Really kind of making love to that sandwich as he eyeballs me,” she said. “So strong. Eyes like lasers boring right in.”
Those laser eyes present a unique challenge, because it is hard for her not to laugh. The classically trained actress admits it is “possibly the one time” that she can’t help but “dissolve.” The problem, she revealed, is that she wasn’t prepared for Hivju’s lustful gaze, least of all its intensity.
“No one told me that this was going to happen,” she said of the improvised look that kicked off their budding romance. “I was not expecting the power, the magnitude of … intense sexual intention to pour out of a man’s eyes and cover me.”
We just hope we’ll get to see more of it in Season 8.
Watch Christie’s hysterical descriptions below.
“Late Night with Seth Meyer” airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Is romance in the air for Brienne of Tarth in “Game of Thrones” Season 7?
Maybe not — at least, that’s the opinion of Gwendoline Christie, who plays the female knight. Fans have been shipping Brienne and wildling Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) ever since his jaw dropped when he saw her for the first time — which was a throwaway moment in the script, as Newsweek notes in an interview with Christie.
And then there was Tormund’s lusty leer as the characters shared a meal.
“I don’t often laugh during filming,” Christie said. “That was really difficult. Because he is so intensely hilarious.”
But as for an actual romance? “Do you think she actually likes him?” Christie asked Newsweek’s writer, who responded in the negative.
“Well, there you go!”
Brienne will develop another, very unlikely relationship in Season 7, though.
“‘Game of Thrones’ is famous for different characters coming together with unlikely consequences. And what’s recurrent in Brienne’s life is forming relationships with people that start with an opposing force, then a begrudging mutual respect and, out of that, a deep respect and pure love,” Christie noted.
“That happens again this season. Brienne will realize a deep alliance.”
A favorite “Game of Thrones” ship is even more intense than it looks.
Is romance in the air for Brienne of Tarth in “Game of Thrones” Season 7?