Neil Gaiman and Vegas: not exactly a match-up many of would have expected. But apparently that's what's happening for Gaiman's next project; he and Penn Jillette, the speaking half of the magic duo Penn & Teller, will be adapting the novel The Road to Endor, which is more like The Great Escape with magic than anything to do with Star Wars.
MTV's Splash Page article is frustratingly vague-- we don't know when the novel was written, what Jillette will actually be doing on the film, or what kind of movie they're making out of it. But the details on the book itself are kinda cool; "it’s a true story of two World War I prisoners of war, one of whom was an amateur magician, who trick their guards into believing that they are in touch with the spirit world to plot their escape from a Turkish prison camp. Using Ouija boards, séances, mentalist scams, poltergeist effects, and fake suicides, they convince even the Camp Commander."
Like I said, The Great Escape with magic. I like that Gaiman is branching out beyond his own work, and what seems to be even beyond the realm of fantasy. If he can come up with a good reason to get Penn Jillette involved, I may even find myself looking forward to this loony project.
