More News on HBO's American Gods

Mad Hatter sheds some more light on the upcoming HBO show American Gods, based on Neil Gaiman's book.

First and foremost Neil mentioned that the first season of the HBO adaptation of American Gods will be comprised of the whole of the novel. Given that it has been discussed that there are plans for 6 seasons Neil will be providing a lot more information. The idea that the “Monarch of the Glen” being made part of the series seems likely as well. Plus Neil said there are at least two more stories about Shadow’s time in Europe that take place after Monarch and before the events of the planned sequel to American Gods. Neil briefly discussed the shorts and seemed interested in getting to them sooner than later. He also brought up what he calls “The American Gods Sequel Box,” which includes Bigfoot, a possible appearance by Jesus, and a tiny town in Florida founded by Spiritualist in the 20s comprised of lots of tarot reading shops. It is apparently a real thing.

Sounds good to me. Plus, Gaiman has worked in TV before, so if he is in control of the project the way Martin is with Game of Thrones, it should turn out to be a really good show.

American Gods on HBO in 2013

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Tom Hanks’ Playtone Productions is set to produce an open-ended series, American Gods, for HBO, based on Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novel, while the company’s next project, Major Matt Mason, is in talks with Robert Zemeckis to direct in 3D, Playtone partner Gary Goetzman told The Hollywood Reporter.

The series-in-development, revolving around the question “are you a god if no one believes in you?” is executive produced by Goetzman and Hanks, with Bob Richardson, and Gaiman on board as executive producer and writer.

Now slated for six seasons, each season will be of 10-12, hour-long episodes with a budget of around $35-40 million per season, targeted to debut on the cable powerhouse in 2013 at the earliest.

Rich in religious folklore that spanned millennia and featuring deities from Greek and Nordic mythology, and even the Judeo-Christian monotheistic God making an appearance, in the contemporary U.S., American Gods will be effects-heavy to do justice to the awe-inspiring power of the divine beings. “There are some crazy things in there. We’ll probably be doing more effects in there than it’s been done on a television series,” said Goetzman.

I am not sure I'm terribly excited about this. American Gods is not a book that could sustain even two, let alone six seasons of a well made TV show. Then again, the setting is compelling enough that HBO might simply decide to use only fragments of the story and make their own with Neil Gaiman's characters. Which, if you think about it, would not be such a bad thing. Still, it's a project that could easily turn very, very wrong.

Incidentally, this is the cover of the Spanish hardcover edition of the book. Pretty awesome, eh?