Though Netflix hasn't officially renewed The Sandman for a season 2, VFX artist Ian Markiewicz says the team is still moving full speed ahead with pre-production plans.
"We have a really wonderful framework for what we think season 2 looks like," Markiewicz told Screen Rant. "Allan [Heinberg] is still touching up scripts and reworking things, but we have an arc. Up until until pretty recently, I think maybe even two weeks or so, Gary, our production designer, myself, and Allan meet over lunch, and we will do a script over that meeting.
"It's like, 'Okay, let's look at 201,' and we'll do our breakdowns together, where we do page turns on 201 and say, 'Okay, what do we think? Where can we film this? Can we film this in a real space? If not, what do we need to build, if we need to build, if we need to build it? Are we building this as a physical set, or can it be a building as a virtual set or a combination thereof? Is it physical to a certain extent, and then digital beyond that?'
"That process is happening now, which is great, and it's really fun and exciting to be able to of have season 1 behind us to know what we feel worked there, things that we wanted to sort of finesse further, and how that impacts our approach for season 2."
The 11-episode season hit Netflix on August 5, garnering over 127.5 million streaming hours in its first full week and hit Netflix's global list for the Top 10 most-watched English-language shows. Critics praised the series visuals, Tom Sturridge's performance as the titular Lord of Dreams, with some calling it the best fantasy series of the year. Still, Netflix is known for their abrupt cancellations, which has prompted fans to start a "#RenewTheSandman" movement on Twitter. The show reportedly costs an estimated $15 million per episode – making it one of the streaming app's most expensive series to date.
"We aren't NOT getting a second season yet," creator Neil Gaiman said on Twitter. "Everyone seems to be jumping the gun on each side. Our numbers were great. Netflix is examining every number and algorithm to decide if they can make more. As soon as they come to a conclusion, we will know."
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