Nearly 25 years after his first appearance, and after countless false starts in development hell, Neil Gaiman's Lord of Dreams could finally make it to the big screen this time.

After rumors surfaced a few weeks ago surrounding a new version of a Sandman film project, Deadline reported Monday that a new deal was indeed in the works for Sandman, with The Dark Knight Rises and Inception star Joseph Gordon-Levitt "finalizing" an agreement to produce the flick for Warner Bros. alongside Man of Steel writer David Goyer. Rumors are also swirling that Levitt could direct the picture and, perhaps more importantly, star as Dream of the Endless himself, but that's not confirmed yet, nor is it clear who would write the film at this point.

Shortly after Deadline broke the news, Levitt himself chimed in with a pair of tweets both confirming his involvement and knocking down those directing and starring reports ... for the moment, anyway. He also dropped a one-word hashtag that could hold serious clues as to the film's plot.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm incredibly honored to be working with David Goyer, Warner Bros, and @neilhimself on SANDMAN. #Prelude — Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitRECordJoe) December 17, 2013

Just to clarify, folks. I've signed on as a producer on Sandman. The rest remains to be seen. Delighted you guys are excited. I am too! — Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitRECordJoe) December 17, 2013

Gaiman, who's in the midst of writing a new Sandman prequel story, Overture, retweeted Levitt's statements on his own Twitter page, seemingly confirming that they are indeed collaborating. As for that word "Prelude," it's quite likely a reference to "Preludes and Nocturnes," the first collected volume of Gaiman's beloved Sandman comic-book run, which follows the Lord of Dreams, Morpheus, as he's imprisoned for 70 years by a human sorceror who was trying to capture his sister, Death, in an effort to live forever. When Morpheus finally breaks free, he discovers that his symbols of power have been lost, and he must fight to reclaim his strength and set his kingdom, the Dreaming, right again. If that's indeed what Levitt was referring to, it seems that he and Goyer are going for both an origin story and, possibly, the start of a series of films for the character, but exactly what will happen when this production really gets rolling remains to be seen.

So the Sandman movie's got the original author behind it, as well as one of Warner Bros.' most powerful voices right now in Goyer and a serious star in Levitt. Does this mean it'll finally make it to the screen? And, perhaps more importantly, should it?

(Via Deadline)