Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been attached to "The Sandman" movie adaptation for roughly two years, and in a recent Q&A on Reddit, the actor-director confirmed that the movie is still moving forward and that the team behind the film has experienced challenges in condensing a very complex and lengthy graphic novel series into a single movie.
"The Sandman" is a series by writer Neil Gaiman revolving around the character Morpheus aka Lord of Dreams as he is trapped when someone tries to capture Death in a bottle. There are 75 main issues of the graphic novels.
During the interview, JGL confirmed that they are taking a lot of important elements from the graphic novels but also noted that there will be a lot of re-working in order to condense the source material's plot points into a 2-hour movie. In doing so, he stated that they have to change the story but will keep the sentiment and themes of the graphic novels. The film adaptation's screenplay is being done by "Man of Steel" and "The Dark Knight" writer David S. Goyer and Jack Thorne.
JGL also stated in the interview that the property would be better suited on the big screen instead of being adapted into a television series. Fans have pushed for a television series adaptation because this would allow the studios to adapt the graphic novels more faithfully, with one or two episodes at a time tackling a story arc in the comics.
However, JGL stated, "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."
Although no release date has yet been confirmed, JGL will step in as the director and is also set to star in the film although it hasn't been confirmed if he will play Morpheus or a supporting character.
