Supernatural creator Eric Kripke – who was attached to develop a TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed comic book series The Sandman – says the project is not happening.
“Unfortunately, for a lot of varying reasons, Sandman is not in the works, at least for this season,” Kripke tells The Hollywood Reporter.
In September, Warner Bros. TV named Kripke as its top choice to develop the fantasy series when the company was working to acquire the television rights from sister company DC Entertainment.
Speaking from the red carpet before the Supernatural panel at PaleyFest on Sunday afternoon, Kripke says The Sandman “just didn’t quite happen this season through nobody’s fault, and hopefully we can do it again in the future.”
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The Sandman centers on Morpheus, a deity who personifies dreams. He goes on a quest to find his lost objects of power when he is captured by humans who mistake him for his older sister, Death.
Kripke did speak with the Gaiman, the writer behind The Sandman, to discuss a possible adaptation, mentioning that the series “is without a doubt my all-time favorite comic.”
“I’m such a fan of Neil, and he’s every bit as smart as promised and every bit as cool and down-to-earth, and I just loved my conversations with him,” he said.
Kripke shared that Gaiman appeared to be familiar with Supernatural, which he said in the past is heavily inspired by Gaiman’s work. (Yesterday, he told THR that Supernatural is “Sandman meets American Gods”).
“When I saw [Gaiman], I said, ‘Just so you know, I rip you off all the time for the show,’ and he said, ‘I really appreciate that because you and Kevin Smith have both been very public about ripping me off, and I don’t mind if people rip me off, I just want them to be public and admit it,’ ” Kripke said.
Kripke, who stepped down as Supernatural showrunner last season, is now freer to work on other projects — but is still involved with the writing of the CW show.
Gaiman’s books have recently found their way to the big screen with the Robert de Niro film Stardust and the stop-motion hit Coraline. His novel Neverwhere was adapted as a BBC miniseries in 1996.
