With the launch of its television adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s series Game of Thrones, HBO is looking to acquire another fantasy series. The network is eyeing Neil Gaiman’s American Gods as a Playtone partners (Big Love, Band of Brothers) project with the idea of joining the talents of cinematographer Robert Richardson (Hugo Cabret, Inglourious Basterds) with Gaiman (Stardust, Coraline) himself to adapt a pilot for the series.
American Gods, written in 2001, was awarded several awards, including the Stoker and Hugo Awards, and depicts an ongoing “battle between two sets of gods. One consists of the traditional gods and mythological creatures who got their power because people throughout history believed in them. They are losing steam as people’s beliefs wane and are in danger of being supplanted by a new set of gods who reflect America’s preoccupation with technological advancements and obsessions with media, celebrity, technology and drugs. The protagonist, [named Shadow,] is an ex-con who becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities.”
