And so has left the production.
And, honestly, I can't blame him. Let's hope American Gods goes well, and that leads to a change of heart about the direction Sandman really needs to go.
Aside from the episodic nature of the original material, the other great challenge I see is that its tone shifts radically between installments. How you would choose what element to do for a limited 2-1/2 hour movie, and have it make sense, is indeed a hurdle that any movie would have problems with — and any TV series would have to overcome as well.
Another Screenwriter Leaves the Sandman Movie, Saying It Has to Be a TV Show
The dream of seeing Neil Gaiman’s Sandman on the big screen remains just that—a dream, and one that’s having a load of trouble getting realized. Eric Heisserer, the latest screenwriter hired to adapt the celebrated comic book series, has departed the project.
I think, as a TV show, embracing the tone shifts would be great, especially if done by shifting main character viewpoints. I think it needs to be a TV show, probably sonething done through Netflix or Amazon.
ABSOLUTELY! You only have to look at the WATCHMEN and V films to see how the film format fails a narrative, even when it attempts to stay close to them. The subplots and characters around them make a difference.
+Laura Ess I don't think either of those movies failed all that much — I could easily have had another few hours of both, but they did a reasonable effort with a combined maxiseries in a (long) movie length.
You could thus maybe fit a TPB arc of Sandman into a major motion picture, but not only would the lack of context in a continuing story hurt, but I'd argue that there's more subtext in Gaiman's work than Moore's. (I'd also argue conversely that as stand-alone stories they are weaker for that same reason.)
I'd agree with that. Moore's subtext is usually just below the surface, but with Gaiman you get extra if you follow the long arc.
The other thing of course was the WATCHMAN Motion comic. I quite liked it the first time I saw it, but it lost interest quickly on repeats. Now THIS version I'd watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w