Neil Gaiman's American Gods is finally coming to TV as a cable drama on Starz. We have all the details right here.
Long promised but never realized, Neil Gaiman's American Gods (arguably his best novel) is getting the cable TV series treatment. Bryan Fuller is shifting his attention from the gone-too-soon Hannibal to the American Gods TV series on Starz, and he's hard at work with Michael Green on the scripts for the first two episodes, with fellow Hannibal alum David Slade directing the pilot and Neil Gaiman writing at least one episode.
According to The Guardian, production is expected to begin in March of 2016, but we don't have official confirmation on this yet.
American Gods Summary
For those unfamiliar with American Gods, here's the official synopsis Starz released for the TV series:
The plot posits a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.
American Gods TV Series Production
At one point, HBO had planned American Gods as a series of six 10-12 episode seasons, but it never quite materialized. Back in February of 2014, Freemantle Media picked up the rights, and the project found a home at Starz in 2014 with Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Hannibal) and Michael Green (who is going to be very busy the next few years with Blade Runner 2, Wolverine 3, and Prometheus 2 on his menu) as showrunners.
In an interview with Crave Online, Bryan Fuller talked about plans for American Gods to be a kind of "Marvel Universe, not with superheroes but with gods...As detailed and integrated as the Marvel Universe is, and doing that with deities is something that excited all of us."
In other words, this won't just be a straight adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, and is instead being looked at very much as long form television, which may lead to more down the road. "In success we may have spin-offs of American Gods that follow lesser gods in greater detail than you might in the main series," Mr. Fuller added.
The whole interview is worth a read.
Neil Gaiman gave fans a glimpse of the concept art, as well. This would be the bone orchard that Shadow dreams of in the book. It looks suitably moody...
American Gods Casting
Expect us to follow casting news with an almost unhealthy interest. Although, according to the chat we had with Bryan Fuller, some casting has already begun, with an offer out to one actor in particular, and a diverse cast overall being sought. Read all about that right here.
Lucy Bevan is in charge of casting for this one. Back in August, The Guardian got a hold of a casting sheet for Shadow Moon, saying that the production was looking for a "male, early to mid 30s, American, black/mixed race/North African in appearance. An ex-con with a quiet intellect and a lithe, powerful frame. This series contains adult content.”
American Gods Premiere Date
American Gods will probably arrive in 2017. As soon as there's an official announcement, we'll let you know.
