
The television adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book series ‘American Gods’ has been given the green-light from Starz and Bryan Fuller has joined the production team as Co-Showrunner.
Fuller will co-produce with Michael Green. Fuller of course is well known to fans of genre television for his work on shows such as ‘Dead Like Me’, ‘Pushing Daisies’ and most recently for ‘Hannibal’. Michael Green is perhaps best known for his work on ‘Kings’.
Gaiman’s 2001 novel follows a lonely ex-con named Shadow who takes a job as a bodyguard for the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. As the two men travel the United States, Shadow becomes aware that a war is imminent between the country’s old gods (think: ancient mythology) and its new ones (think: modern technology) — and that his part in the proceedings has been predestined. Oh, and Mr. Wednesday is one of the old gods, no biggie.
The series order for ‘American Gods’ is a similar situation to what happened with ‘Outlander’, which has developed a passionate following.
In a statement, Gaiman — who will be one of the series’ executive producers — said he was “thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation” about the project, adding, “I’m relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands.”
Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, also via statement, said, “Almost 15 years ago, Neil Gaiman filled a toy box with gods and magic and we are thrilled to finally crack it open and play. We’re grateful to have Starz above us and FremantleMedia [which will produce the series] at our backs as we appease the gods, American or otherwise.”