Moviefone Editorial

Tag: sandman

  • Netflix Renews ‘The Sandman’ for Season 2

    Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream in Netflix's 'The Sandman.'
    Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’

    Like waking up from a nightmare, fans of Netflix’s adaptation of ‘The Sandman’, created by Neil Gaiman, have now learned the good news: the streaming service has renewed the show for a second season.

    The news broke unexpectedly and – we’d have to assume – not in the fashion that Netflix would have preferred, as a tweet about the renewal from the official DC Comics account went online earlier than planned.

    It was since confirmed by both Gaiman (via his own tweet) and Netflix.

    ‘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.

    “Millions upon millions of people have welcomed and watched and loved ‘The Sandman’ on Netflix, from established ‘Sandman’ fans to people who were simply curious, and then became obsessed with the Lord of Dreams, his family and their goings-on,” Gaiman said in a statement.

    Season 1 only covered roughly two of the 10 trade paperbacks that make up the majority of the ‘Sandman’ story. Which means there is a wealth of material still to bring to screens.

    Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in Netflix's 'The Sandman.'
    (L to R) Tom Sturridge as Morpheus / Dream and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.’

    “There are some astonishing stories waiting for Morpheus and the rest of them (not to mention more members of the Endless Family to meet),” Gaiman continued. “Nobody is going to be happier about this than the ‘Sandman’ cast and crew: They are the biggest Sandman fans there are. And now it’s time to get back to work. There’s a family meal ahead, after all. And Lucifer is waiting for Morpheus to return to Hell…”

    Unlike ‘Good Omens’, Gaiman wasn’t the showrunner on ‘Sandman’, though he was deeply involved (including co-writing the first episode). Show boss Allan Heinberg will also be back for the new season.

    “I’m profoundly grateful to Netflix and to Warner Bros. — to the artists and crew who made our first 11 episodes so magical — and to the extraordinary fans of ‘The Sandman’ who advocated tirelessly — endlessly — on the show’s behalf and made it possible for us to continue telling Morpheus’ story,” showrunner Heinberg tells Netflix’s Tudum blog.

    Given the complexity of the show, we can’t imagine it’ll be back before 2024, but at least we know it’ll be back.

    Tom Sturridge as Dream in 'The Sandman.'
    Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.

  • Ben Kingsley Starring in ‘Violent Cases’

    Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in 1982's 'Gandhi.'
    Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in 1982’s ‘Gandhi.’

    Neil Gaiman is keeping it in the family. The Kingsley family, that is.

    After seeing Ferdinand Kingsley show up in episode 6 of Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ series, another Kingsley – Oscar winner Ben – is on board to star in an adaptation of Gaiman and Dave McKean’s 1987 graphic novel ‘Violent Cases’, the first collaboration between the writer and the artist.

    Unlike ‘Sandman’, though Gaiman is not as directly involved. Instead, as Variety reports, Mike Carey – who adapted his own novel ‘The Girl with All the Gifts’ for the big screen – is on script duty, while Colm McCarthy directs and Camille Gatin is the producer. The latter two also worked on ‘Gifts’, which followed a girl in a dystopian society ravaged by an infection that turns people into mindless, flesh-craving creatures. She’s part of a program working with hybrid infected kids, who retain some ability to control their minds.

    The story for this one is a journey into the mind of Gaiman, as a famous author recounts fragmented childhood memories and visits to an osteopath who once worked for Al Capone, weaving a dark and twisting tale about stories, our memory, violence and the ways we can’t escape our past. Prime Gaiman, then: a story about storytelling, offering unusual angles that deliver universal truths.

    “I’m delighted to be working with this fantastic team on ‘Violent Cases,’ which for me is about the power and importance of storytelling, about how we negotiate the shadows cast by the father figures in our lives and above all about the right of our inner child to be heard,” says Kingsley.

    Comic book creator Neil Gaiman from Netflix's 'The Sandman' at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
    Comic book creator Neil Gaiman from Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

    “‘Violent Cases’ is a wild, hallucinatory, yet thought provoking and emotional comic, says Carey. “It’s so exciting to build a film from this incredible, genre-defining work.”

    And he adds: “As an aspiring writer back in the late 80s reading ‘Violent Cases’ was a revelation and a joy for me. Its darkness and playfulness defined a new approach to storytelling. Thirty-five years on, it’s still unique, and bringing it across into a new medium feels like discovering it again for the first time. Neil Gaiman redefined serialized comics with ‘The Sandman,’ but ‘Violent Cases’ was his and Dave McKean’s early masterpiece. It’s thrilling to be introducing it to a new audience and taking its visual lyricism into a new medium.”

    Another Kingsley, Edmund, will be among the producers via Lakesville Productions.

    It’s certainly a boon time for Gaiman’s work hitting screens: ‘The Sandman’ was a big hit for Netflix, with fans demanding a second season. Elsewhere, a new season of angels and demons satire ‘Good Omens’ is headed our way via Prime Video, with ‘Anansi Boys’ following that, both with the author very much involved.

    As for the much-maligned ‘American Gods’, that has been cancelled by Starz. Well, they can’t all be winners…

    Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery in 2013's 'Iron Man 3.'
    Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery in 2013’s ‘Iron Man 3.’

  • ‘The Sandman’ Teaser Finally Confirms a Release Date

    Jenna Coleman as Johanna, Tom Sturridge as Dream in 'The Sandman.'
    (L to R) Jenna Coleman as Johanna, Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2022.

    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.

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    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.

    Alongside Sturridge, the cast includes a batch of reliable performers, genre stalwarts and new faces: Boyd Holbrook, Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, David Thewlis, Stephen Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Vanesu Samunyai, John Cameron Mitchell, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Joely Richardson, Niamh Walsh, Sandra James-Young, Razane Jammal and, announced as part of the news on this one, Mark Hamill, who voices fan-favorite character Merv Pumpkinhead.

    ‘The Sandman’ will return to his kingdom on August 5th via Netflix.

    Tom Sturridge as Dream in 'The Sandman.'
    Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Courtesy of Netflix © 2021.
    Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar in 'The Sandman.'
    Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix © 2022.
    Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess in 'The Sandman.'
    Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Ed Miller/Netflix © 2022.
    Stephen Fry as Gilbert in 'The Sandman.'
    Stephen Fry as Gilbert in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022.
    Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian in 'The Sandman.'
    Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2022.
    Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne in 'The Sandman.'
    Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix © 2022.
    Tom Sturridge as Dream in 'The Sandman.'
    Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022.
    Jenna Coleman as Johanna, Tom Sturridge as Dream in 'The Sandman.'
    (L to R) Jenna Coleman as Johanna, Tom Sturridge as Dream in ‘The Sandman.’ Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2022.
  • ‘Sandman’ TV Series Coming to Netflix in Massive Deal With Warner Bros.

    ‘Sandman’ TV Series Coming to Netflix in Massive Deal With Warner Bros.

    DC

    Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic “Sandman” is finally getting on screen.

    After many years in movie development hell, “Sandman” is being adapted into a television series after Netflix and Warner Bros. signed a massive deal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it is the most expensive TV series that DC Entertainment has ever done.

    “Sandman” spans horror, fantasy, and mythology and follows Morpheus, Lord of the Dreams, who oversees a vast hallucinatory landscape housing all the dreams of any and everyone who’s ever existed.  He’s one of seven siblings, called the Endless; the others are Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium.

    Attempts to adapt the comic into a feature film began in the 1990s. In 2013, Gaiman announced he was teaming up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who would direct and star in the movie. However, Gordon-Levitt left the project in 2016 over creative differences with New Line.

    Eric Heisserer, the last screenwriter attached to the New Line project told iO9 that the “the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy. The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this …. It needs to go to TV.”

    The property was shopped to multiple outlets, including WarnerMedia corporate sibling HBO, but in the end, Netflix’s buckets of cash landed them the deal.

    Allan Heinberg (“Wonder Woman,” ABC’s “The Catch”) will write and serve as showrunner. Gaiman will executive produce.