Neil Gaiman made it clear that he is not involved in the upcoming theatrical adaptation of The Graveyard Book. Gaiman has been the subject of widespread acclaim in the wake of The Sandman‘s success on Netflix. The story, which followed Morpheus as he attempted to set the realm of the Dreaming right after being trapped for decades, proved Gaiman’s prowess as a producer and creator, as the series proved to be a major hit for Netflix that took the world by storm with its dark narrative and realistically eerie yet compelling world building.
While The Sandman worked well with his support, Gaiman will not be involved in the production of The Graveyard Book, which has been in various stages of developmental limbo since 2009. The film, which is set to be helmed by FInding Neverland‘s Marc Forster, will not be turning to its source author, as revealed by Gaiman in response to a fan’s question about the adaptation on Tumblr. See what Gaiman said below:
You know everything I know. And no, no control or say. Fingers crossed that if they make it, it’s good.
Everything We Know About The Graveyard Book
The Graveyard Book will be an adaptation of Gaiman’s 2008 young adult novel, which followed the adventures of the newly orphaned Nobody “Bod” Owens after he is adopted by a group of otherworldly creatures in a cemetery. Gaiman, who insisted that The Sandman needed to be a streaming show, has expressed his acceptance with the idea that The Graveyard Book will be a singular film, but it may not be the wisest decision. Considering that the book follows Bod through a decade of his life, film may be a difficult medium to adapt the project with, since there are so many stories that can be told.
Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) was originally intended to direct the project, but production issues meant that Selick left the film, along with a successive series of writers who would sign on and then walk away shortly after, leaving it in absolute limbo. While there appears to be some disappointment for Gaiman, it may be a good thing that he hasn’t been able to get involved. Gaiman may be too busy to be fully tied to The Graveyard Book, especially since he is interested in creating a Sandman spin-off about Johanna Constantine. With more episodes of The Sandman and Good Omens season 2 on the way, Gaiman will be busy enough without having a film on his plate.
The upcoming iteration of The Graveyard Book will be written by David Magee (The Life of Pi) and directed by Marc Foster (Finding Neverland), but it remains to be seen if the project ever reaches completion. There is currently no updates on when the producers will begin searching for a cast, which would be a major step in its production. Still, it isn’t too uncommon for a Gaiman-inspired project to struggle to get through development, especially after the struggle that Gaiman went through to get further episodes of The Sandman greenlit by Netflix. With luck, The Graveyard Book will have a smoother development process from here on out.
Source: Neil Gaiman / Tumblr