The development of new projects, both film and TV, is no easy task. Aside from creatively figuring out the piece, there are also so many players and departments that can truly make you dizzy. This process can easily kill a project or put it in development hell. It appears that this is exactly what happened with the upcoming comic adaptation Sandman. Just when it seemed that the new Sandman film was taking strides forward, the almost unimaginable happened.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was signed on to direct, produce, and star in Sandman has dropped out of the film altogether. The actor took to his personal facebook page to give an explanation for this bold move, much to the chagrin of Sandman fans. Check out his statement below.
RE: SANDMANSo, as you might know if you like to follow these sorts of things, a while back, David Goyer and I made a...Posted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Saturday, March 5, 2016
Woah. Considering Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the mastermind behind the upcoming Sandman movie, this is pretty huge news.
In JGL’s facebook post, he essentially cited creative differences as the reason for his dropping out of the project. Namely, Levitt believed that he wanted to tell the story of Sandman one way, and apparently the powers that be didn’t agree. So, rather than make a project that he didn’t really believe in, Levitt dropped out all of his varying roles in the film. Like I said, huge news.
Sandman is a comic book series published by DC comic’s off company named Vertigo. The story revolves around a character named Dream aka The Sandman. Rather than a traditional human with super strength or flight, Sandman is the living personification of dreams. After being captured and tortured for 70 years, Sandman returns to the world of dreams in an attempt to rebuilding the Kingdom he knew before his capture. Additionally, Sandman travels to the waking world, splitting his time between the two. If the story sounds a bit complicated it’s because it totally is.
While not a typical comic story, Sandman is one of the most critically acclaimed comics of all time. Sandman is one of the only graphic novels to ever be on the New York Times Bestseller List. Additionally, it has been listed as one of the best novels in the past few decades, making it quite different from the traditional comic shorts that appeal mostly to a niche fandom market.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt seems like the perfect person to bring such a complicated and rich graphic novel to the big screen. JGL was apart of one of the most successful comic book films of all time with his role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Additionally, he was apart of another Nolan project, Inception, which focused on the world of dreams. Plus, we’ve seen him star and direct in the same project before with his work in comedy Don Jon.
It looks like the folks working on Sandman truly have their hands full moving forward. While they’ve just enlisted a new screenwriter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s departure leaves a bunch of very important roles to fill.
We’ll continue to update you as more information regarding Sandman becomes public.
