Regarded as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, Neil Gaiman’s comic ‘The Sandman’ tells the story of Dream, the titular Sandman who rules over the dream realm. Spanning a whopping 75 issues from 1989 to 1996, the comic was highly acclaimed thanks to its dark and mature storytelling, as well as its overlapping of the horror and fantasy genres.
Inevitably, talk of a film adaptation began during the comic’s run and now it looks like it will finally happen. It was recently announced that actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt (DON JON) was attached as producer to THE SANDMAN, with the possibility that he may also direct and star in the film. What is it about the source material, then, that caused Gordon-Levitt to show so much interest in the project this early on? In an interview with IGN, he explained his attraction to the film:
“Well, I love just the basic concept of it – just the concept of personifying Dream, along with all of his brothers and sisters, the seven Endless personifying Death, personifying Destruction and Delirium and Destiny and Desire and Despair. I mean, that’s just a fascinating and, I think, a really cinematic concept. You look at the art of Sandman, and it just looks spectacular. I love big, spectacular movies, but oftentimes big, spectacular movies sort of get stuck in a rut. They go down certain paths that end in big explosions or whatever. Sandman has so much opportunity to do something that’s on a grand, grand scale, but really unlike your average big, grand-scale, spectacular movie. I guess that’s the tip of the iceberg.”
From Gordon-Levitt’s explanation, it is easy to understand his excitement and get an idea of the sheer spectacle we could be looking forward to. Though it is, in his words, ‘very, very early days’, Gordon-Levitt may be just the right person to bring THE SANDMAN to the screen. He has demonstrated his acting range in films like THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and 50/50 and has shown his writing and directing skills through his successful comedy DON JON.
Do you dream of seeing a Sandman movie, or does the concept put you to sleep (see what I did there? Eh? EH?)? Let us know below.
Source: IGN
