After several attempts to film Gaiman’s acclaimed comic book series, the streaming giant has picked it up in a ‘massive’ deal with Warner Bros

After multiple failed attempts to make a screen adaptation, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman comic book series has been acquired by Netflix, in what is being reported as a “massive” deal with Warner Bros.

The news comes 30 years after Gaiman published the first comic in the series, in which the Dream King Morpheus wakes up from 70 years of captivity at the hands of a mortal. The series ran for 75 issues, and has often been described as unfilmable, with previous attempts to adapt it foundering. The most recent was in 2016, when actor and fan Joseph Gordon-Levitt acquired the rights and was due to direct a film adaptation in which he also played Morpheus – but left the project due to “creative differences” with studio New Line.

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Now 11 episodes have been ordered by Netflix, which described the series as “a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven”.

Gaiman will write the first episode with showrunner Allan Heinberg and David S Goyer. The author, who is fresh from adapting the novel he wrote with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, said the first series would only cover Preludes and Nocturnes – the first eight comics in the Sandman series.

“I’m hoping we can make something on television that feels as personal and true as the best of the Sandman comics did. Just set 30 years later than Sandman the comic,” Gaiman wrote on Twitter. He said he would be less involved than he had been with Good Omens, where he was showrunner for the Amazon Prime series, but “much more” involved than he has been with the Starz adaptation of his novel American Gods, for which he was an executive producer.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, sources have described the deal between Netflix and Sandman’s owner Warner Bros as “massive” and “the most expensive TV series that [division] DC Entertainment has ever done”.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the brilliant team that is Neil Gaiman, David S Goyer and Allan Heinberg to finally bring Neil’s iconic comic book series, The Sandman, to life on screen,” said Netflix’s Channing Dungey. “From its rich characters and storylines to its intricately built-out worlds, we’re excited to create an epic original series that dives deep into this multi-layered universe beloved by fans.”

Moving between the dawn of time to the eve of the new millennium in London and the Renaissance, the Sandman follows Morpheus as he gets to grips with the changes that have taken place in the world as he lay captive. It also tells the stories of his six siblings, the Endless, who include Death, Destiny and Desire.