‘Sandman’ Film Loses Another Screenwriter, Creator Neil Gaiman Responds

The road to adapt DC Comics character Sandman from page to screen has not been an easy one. Writer Jack Thorne had previously been tapped to pen the film’s script for New Line Cinema and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who had been a vocal advocate for a Sandman film, was set to produce, direct and star in the picture before exiting due to disagreements with the studio. Now, Eric Heisserer, who had signed on to write a new draft of the script following Thorne’s departure, revealed to i09 while promoting his film Arrival that he has left the project as well.

Eric Heisserer explained that while developing the film it became clear that the Sandman story was more suited for television than film.

“I had many conversations with [Sandman creator] Neil [Gaiman] on this, and I did a lot of work on the feature and came to the conclusion that 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. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV. So I talked myself out of a job!”

Neil Gaiman, creator of the current version of the Sandman character, took to twitter to respond, seemingly agreeing with Heisserer’s assessment of the project.

There is currently no word on who could replace Eric Heisserer as the films screenwriter after this latest setback for the character’s live-action debut, which has been in development hell since the 1990s.

What are your thoughts? Is Sandman more suited for television or would you prefer a big screen adaptation, if any at all? Sound off below!

Source: io9