It feels like it's taken an age to get to this point, but the TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's popular fantasy novel American Gods has finally been greenlit. The project has been in the works for some time now, and, at one point, looked like it was headed to HBO. However, after spending several years stuck in 'development hell', the series shifted hands to rival premium cable channel Starz.
The network have now confirmed that the show will indeed be going ahead, with Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Michael Green (Kings) handling showrunning duties. According to a press release issued by Freemantle Media earlier today, Gaiman will also be involved as an executive producer. The writer expressed his excitement about the news in a short statement:
"I am thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation. The team that is going to bring the world of American Gods to the screen has been assembled like the master criminals in a caper movie: I’m relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands. Now we finally move to the exciting business that fans have been doing for the last dozen years: casting our Shadow, our Wednesday, our Laura..."
This is just the first step in a long journey towards an official series pick-up. However, fans who have watched this project loiter in development over the past few years can take solace from the news that it is now picking up steam. Next up for the producers is the casting of the novel's protagonist, 'Shadow Moon' - and it seems both Gaiman and Starz would love to hear some of your suggestions:
Are you excited by these new developments? Would you have preferred to see American Gods as a HBO mini-series - or are you just happy to finally get the chance to witness Gaiman's popular novel on the small screen? Who would you like to see get the nod to play Shadow? Sign off with your thoughts and choices in the comments below!
American Gods tells the story of Shadow, who, in his last days of prison, learns that his wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.