Audible's The Sandman greenlights Acts 2 and 3

Update: Audible Inc. has announced that the second and third installments of the multi-part original audio drama series The Sandman based on the seminal DC graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman have been greenlit.

The announcement follows what Audible calls The Sandman's "hugely successful debut, which broke records for the most pre-orders of any Audible Original title and earned the distinction of being the best-selling Audible Original in the company’s history."

The Sandman occupied the #1 spot on The New York Times Best Seller Audio Fiction list in July 2020 and August 2020.

The Sandman: Act 2 and The Sandman: Act 3 will again be adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs and narrated by Neil Gaiman, who will also return as creative director and co-executive producer.

The first Act adapts volumes 1-3 of the graphic novel - Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country and is available on www.audible.com/thesandman. This second Act will adapt Season of Mists, Distant Mirrors, A Game of You, and Convergence, and the third Act will adapt Brief Lives and Worlds Ends.

"It was thrilling to be a part of the fastest-selling Audible fiction title and to watch it break records," says Gaiman. "I'm excited to discover what other surprises the genius Dirk Maggs has up his sleeve in the next volumes of Audible's The Sandman."

"It's like making movies for the ear that go straight to the brain. And soon it will be time to meet the whole family, then to go back to Hell once more, as Morpheus confronts Lucifer in Season of Mists."

Audible did not announce the release dates for Acts 2 and 3.

Original story follows...

Amazon's Audible has released a new trailer and the first look at the cover art for its audio production adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series of graphic novels, narrated by Gaiman himself (who also serves as the project's executive producer and creative director) and starring James McAvoy as Morpheus.

The new trailer features the first samples of McAvoy in the starring role.

The production is adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs.

"Almost 30 years ago, Dirk Maggs approached DC about adapting The Sandman into audio form," Gaiman said in the project's announcement. "I’m glad it didn’t happen, because we are in a Golden Age of audio drama right now, and Dirk and I are much better at what we are doing."

Audible’s The Sandman adapts the first three graphic novels in Gaiman’s series: Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country.

The full cast includes Morpheus (McAvoy), Death (Kat Dennings), Despair (Miriam Margolyes), Lucifer (Michael Sheen), Desire (Justin Vivian Bond), the Corinthian (Riz Ahmed), John Constantine (Taron Egerton), Uraina Blackwell (Samantha Morton), Bebe Neuwirth (the Siamese Cat), Matthew the Raven (Andy Serkis), William Shakespeare (Arthur Darvill), Doctor Destiny (William Hope), Hob Gadling (Matthew Horne), J'onn J'onzz (Reginald D. Hunter), Unity Kincaid (Sue Johnston), Choronzon (Paterson Joseph), Mad Hettie (Josie Lawrence), Dr. John Hathaway (Anton Lesser), and Lady Johanna Constantine (Joanna Lumley).

"When an occultist attempts to capture the physical embodiment of Death in a bargain for eternal life, he instead mistakenly traps Death’s younger brother Dream (McAvoy), another of the seven god-like siblings known as the Endless who oversee aspects of human existence, including Desire and Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and Delirium," reads Audible's description of the series.

"After 70 years of imprisonment Dream finally escapes, embarking on a quest to reclaim his lost objects of power and rebuild his kingdom, the world of sleep and imagination called the Dreaming. So begins one of the most acclaimed and successful series of graphic novels ever written."

Audible's The Sandman debuts July 15.

Here’s a look at 10 Vertigo Comics that defined its era, Sandman included, of course.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.