Sandman it’s Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece, and there has long been talk of various unsuccessful attempts to translate it into film or television. Just this year, we saw the first successful adaptation of a Netflix series starring Tom Sturridge.
But if we haven’t had a big-screen version of this story yet, it’s thanks to Gaiman himself. In a recent interview with rolling stoneBritish writer confessed to sabotaging the film Sandman leaking a script full of “really stupid ideas” to the press.
In particular, the writer took it upon himself to prevent the film adaptation filmed by Jon Peters from seeing the light of day. The project was launched in 1996, but quickly proved to be very problematic as the sponsors changed many times.
By 1998, there was already a final version of the film about Sandman with the signature of William Farmer, but indicating the influence of Peters. Neil Gaiman was consulted on this matter, but he didn’t like it at all. For this reason, he decided to make the attack on production public and try to avoid the greater evil.
Neil Gaiman sabotaged the movie Sandman avoid paper
Here’s how Gaiman spoke about the decision to sabotage the film adaptation of the novel Sandman:
[…] “Usually I am polite and pleasant when talking on the phone. I try to find something nice to say to people who are on the phone. I got a call from a guy in John Peters’ office who said, “So, Neal, did you have a chance to read the script we sent you?
And I said, “Well, yes. Yes. I haven’t read everything, but I’ve read enough. He says: “So it’s not bad, right?” And I said, “Well, no. Not really’. He said, “Okay. There must be things that you loved. I said, “There was nothing that I liked. There was nothing that I liked. It was the worst script I have ever read. It was not only the worst case scenario Sandman; It was the worst script they ever sent me. […]
so i sent it Isn’t that great newswhich people read at the time. […]. And they wrote an amazing article about how it was the worst script they’ve ever seen. Suddenly the prospect of this movie was gone; instead Jon Peters turned his attention to wild Wild West“.
Neil Gaiman in Rolling Stone magazine.
The delusions of John Peters
What was said in the script of the film? Sandman What did Neil Gaiman hate so much? The premise of the story was pretty crazy. First, the feature film will feature Sueno (Son/Morpheus), Lucifer and the Corinthian. like identical triplets. In addition, the main characters will pursue a kind of career, the author explained.
“I’m not sure if it would be an action movie or something like that. It was a disaster. […] They were a family of identical brothers and it all came down to a race to see who could get the ruby, steering wheel and sandbag before midnight 1999, before the new millennium began, because whoever got it would be the winner.” .
Neil Gaiman in Rolling Stone magazine.
But that was not all, since the argument also included the appearance of a giant mechanical spider. This may seem like a joke, but it’s not. Much less comes from Jon Peters. Let’s not forget that at that time the manufacturer had a fetish for these devices. I already tried to include them in superman life, the infamous Man of Steel film that was never made. Although he achieved his goal in wild Wild Westwhich premiered in 1999 with Kevin Smith, Kevin Kline and Salma Hayek.
So many years have passed, and knowing how both projects ended, today we can do no more than thanks to Neil Gaiman for sabotaging the first attempt at adaptation Sandman.
