Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks Sandman adaptation

Joseph Gordon-Levitt took part in a Reddit AMA over the weekend, and took the opportunity to give an update on the Sandman adaptation, which seems to be ticking along nicely…

"I think a big screen adaptation is a better idea and here’s why," began JGL in response to the notion that a TV show might have been a better vehicle for such lengthy source material. "If you did the episodic version, I think it could very well end up as a not-as-good-version of what is already brilliant in the comics. But by reworking the material into a big movie, Gaiman’s brilliant characters and ideas get to take shape in a way they never have before."

"Also, I think Sandman deserves to look absolutely mind-blowingly awesome, just on a visual level, and as cinematic as some TV shows are becoming these days, they still can’t compete with big movies visually, just because they can’t afford to.

"There’s tons of little brilliant moments throughout the series, and we certainly can’t incorporate all of them. We are using a whole bunch of specifics straight from the comics, but of course, we’re also having to do a certain amount of invention, and in between that, there’s tons of re-appropriating, re-contextualizing, combining, consolidating, and all manner of things that literalists might not like. But what we try to be completely faithful about is the overall sentiment: that dreams and stories and magic are actually all the same thing, and that they’re real, and that they’re powerful."

Gordon-Levitt is currently working on the script in tandem with David S. Gordon and Jack Thorne, with JGL also assuming production duties. No release date has been confirmed as yet.

For more great film and TV news, head to our movie channel or subscribe to SFX.