Speaking to Christina Radish of
Collider the two HBO executives provided the following updates on the networks plans regarding a HBO series based on Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
On how the success of Game of Thrones will impact American Gods:
MICHAEL LOMBARDO: We haven’t gotten out of the business of developing from source material. We haven’t said, “Ah, Game of Thrones, we’re not taking pitches anymore.” I think it’s a challenge, always. We want to satisfy as many of our consumers as we can. But, at the end of the day, what we respond to is great storytelling. We had three psychiatrist shows on at almost the same time. So, all I’m saying is, with source material from the fantasy world – and I don’t know how much you can extrapolate about George R.R. Martin because he’s very unique in the world – some pretty compelling shows can come from genre and source material. We’re open to it, we’re developing it, and we’ll see.
RICHARD PLEPLER: The key is what the auteur does with the source material, not the source material itself being dispositive or not. What Alan [Ball] did with Charlaine Harris was masterful. What David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] did with George R.R. Martin was masterful. But, it’s what they did with it.
On the level of commitment [rumored to be 6 seasons] to adaptingAmerican Gods:
PLEPLER: No, no, no, no, no.
LOMBARDO: It’s very early development. It hasn’t gotten to the place to even talk about that yet.
PLEPLER: What happens is that things like that get announced as development projects, and then somebody writes about it, as if there’s a 10-year commitment, and we haven’t even seen a script yet. That happens frequently. It’s in early development.
Hmmm. Sounds like this one might not be as "go" as everyone originally reported. Still, Neil Gaiman has a fan base just as large, if not larger [probably larger] than George R.R. Martin and I'm confident the people at HBO will recognize that they are sitting on another gold mine. With a sequel to the original novel on the way, as reported by Gaiman, this has the potential to be, dare I say it...........EPIC!
American Gods Synopsis:American Gods is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow. It is Gaiman's fourth prose novel, being preceded by Good Omens (a collaboration with Terry Pratchett), Neverwhere, and Stardust. Several of the themes touched upon in the book were previously glimpsed in The Sandman graphic novels. The central premise of the novel is that gods and mythological creatures exist because people believe in them. Immigrants to the United States brought with them dwarves, elves, leprechauns, and other spirits and gods. However, the power of these mythological beings has diminished as people's beliefs wane. New gods have arisen, reflecting America's obsessions with media, celebrity, technology, and drugs, among others. The book follows the adventures of ex-convict Shadow, who is released from prison a few days earlier than planned on account of the death of his wife, Laura, in a car accident. He discovers at the funeral that the car crashed because Laura was performing oral sex on Shadow's late friend Robbie, who was driving. Even before learning of the death of Robbie, who was to give Shadow a job, Shadow has been repeatedly offered work as a bodyguard by a confidence man called Mr. Wednesday.
Neil Richard Gaiman (born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. Gaiman's writing has won numerous awards, including Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker, as well as the 2009 Newbery Medal and 2010 Carnegie Medal in Literature. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work.
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