In the 90s, director Jon Peters tried to make Sandman into a film, in the worst adaptation in history, recognized by Neil Gaiman himself.
The first season of The Sandman has become one of the best series based on comics, something that attempts to bring Neil Gaiman’s plot to the cinema failed, especially the film that Jon Peters sought to make in 1999, the worst adaptation of the story published between 1988 and 1996.
Don’t Miss: Why A Sandman Movie Was Never Made Neil Gaiman replies
Neil Gaiman himself recalls in an interview with Variety the script that Jon Peters presented him in his idea of bringing Sandman to the big screen, which the same British author vetoed.
“A guy from Jon Peters’ office called me on the phone and said, ‘So, Neil, have you had a chance to read the script we sent you?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah. Yes, I do. I haven’t read it all, but I’ve read enough. He says, ‘So, (the script is) pretty good. Hey?’ And I said, ‘Well, no. It really isn’t. He said, ‘Oh come on. There must be things in there that you loved. I told him, ‘There was nothing there that I loved. There was nothing there that I liked. It was the worst script I’ve ever read from anyone. It’s not just the worst Sandman script. That was the worst script I’ve ever been sent”
What ideas did Jon Peters have about Sandman?
According to Gaiman, Peters wanted to take his work to a field away from fantasy and horror, to turn it into a race against time.
He had giant mechanical spiders… Lucifer, Morpheus and Corinthian were identical triplets. They were a family of identical brothers, and it was all a race to see who could get the ruby, the helmet, and the punching bag before midnight in 1999, before the new millennium began, because whoever got it would be the winner. That was the plot.
The British writer pointed out that with the help of the media he managed to ensure that this version of Sandman had not even started production work.
“I submitted the script to Ain’t It Cool News, which was being read by people at the time. I thought, ‘I wonder what Ain’t It Cool News thinks of the script they’re going to receive anonymously.’ And they wrote a fabulous article about what the worst script they’d ever been sent looked like. And suddenly, the prospect of that movie happening was gone. Instead, Jon Peters turned his attention to ‘Wild Wild West’”.
Even the author of Sandman himself pointed out that in the 1990s he himself asked Warner Bros. executives not to make the film.
“I remember having my first meeting about a Sandman movie in 1990, and when I went to a meeting at Warners, they said, ‘What do you think about a Sandman movie?’ And I said, ‘Please don’t do it‘”.
The first season of Sandman is available on the most famous platform in the world.
It may interest you: 10 scenes from The Sandman that are faithful to the comics
Source: Variety
A new era for the Sandman Universe arrives at SMASH and DC Comics Mexico
Beyond the wall of Dream, past the Gates of Horn and Ivory, lies the fertile and bountiful land where stories are born. It’s called the Reverie…and her own story is about to take a dark and dangerous turn.
Daniel, the Lord of Dreams, abandoned his kingdom, leaving its borders broken and bloody. Lucien, his loyal guardian, feels his own mind fading as the realm of Sleep decays around him. And the other residents of the Dreaming, from the monstrous and mercenary Dora to the gruff and undaunted Merv Pumpkin Head, fight each other to preserve what they can… But the real nightmare is yet to come.
SMASH and DC Black Label bring you DC Vertigo Deluxe The Sandman Universe The Dreaming Vol. 1: Trails and Emanations. Neil Gaiman and a team of creatives usher in a new era for the Sandman Universe.
Also being read:
Leonora Carrington: Alchemist of Dreams
This is everything we know about the second season of ‘American Gods’
Joe Hill talks about Locke and Key his graphic novel adapted by Netflix
The feminism documentary you must see on Netflix
Insomnia in quarantine? 10 tips to get your sleep routine back